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Life, Liberty, and a House in the Suburbs: Defining Happiness as Homeownership in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Bradley Smith

    (UPN - Université Paris Nanterre, CREA (EA 370) - Centre de Recherches Anglophones - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre, UPN LCE - Université Paris Nanterre - UFR Langues et cultures étrangères - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre)

Abstract

Happiness and well-being seem inseparable from the objectives of the American political system. Indeed, the "pursuit of happiness" is listed as an inalienable right in the Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution endows the federal state with the power to "develop the general welfare". However, the notions of happiness and well-being become problematic when public authorities are called upon to give them concrete content. This paper argues that the inclusion of private property among the necessary conditions for the pursuit of happiness and general well-being led twentieth-century public authorities to institutionalize a quasi-equivalence between a happy life, economic well-being and real estate ownership in an affluent suburb. The federal government democratized this model from the 1940s onwards. Did the subprime crisis of 2007-2008 call this model into question? The consequences of this crisis, both on Americans' attitudes to home ownership and on housing policies, are explored in the final part of this paper.

Suggested Citation

  • Bradley Smith, 2016. "Life, Liberty, and a House in the Suburbs: Defining Happiness as Homeownership in the United States," Post-Print hal-04380325, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04380325
    as

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