ABSTRACT
The values of Americans continue to prominently emphasize the importance of personal freedom and the individual pursuit of happiness. Most people have clear ideas about how happy they are at any time, as well as what makes them the happiest. Of all the immediate gratifications, the happiness drugs are perhaps the most insidious. Drugs such as opium and cocaine, have been regarded as healthy and beneficial. In the socialization of children, the success goals are held out for all to attain. Since the end of World War II, the completion of a college degree has been regarded as basic to the attainment of any of the other major life objectives. The pursuit of happiness for many Americans is equated with the pursuit of money and materialistic values. The psychological problems of sudden wealth are of even greater magnitude than those of inherited wealth. The intrinsic rewards of a job are the satisfactions derived from the performance of the job itself.
