Dennis Prager responds to a caller asking whether he actually chooses happiness. Prager says he sometimes chooses temporary unhappiness when confronted with wrong behavior, like drivers crawling in the left lane. He connects this to larger concerns about freedom and America's decline, but maintains that happiness remains a balancing act.
you raise any issue. And let's continue with your calls. Uh, Boulder, Colorado, and Andrew. Hello, Andrew.
Hello, Dennis. How are you doing, sir?
Thank you.
Well, I wanted to ask you just a few questions. One question. You were talking about driving in the fast lane, and then you specifically said, I choose to hold on to this one. And I wanted to know why you chose— it seems like you're choosing unhappiness when you're telling people, listen, choose happiness. So I'm wondering, after all the years, when you're in the fast lane and the people are doing this to you in California and everywhere like they do on purpose, do you still choose unhappiness, or have you decided to choose happiness?
It's a very good question, ironically. And, uh, I choose unhappiness. I fully acknowledge it, but I know it's temporary, so it's okay. And I'll tell you why. Interestingly, it's not, it's not solely because I am being slowed down by a selfish driver. I don't like people acting selfishly. I don't mind people acting in their self-interest. There is something obnoxious about going slowly in the left lane. It just is. It's wrong, and I am bothered by wrong. I'm bothered by it even if I'm in a lane that's passing. Sometimes the right lane is going fastest on a highway. It, uh, my Choice of happiness is not a choice to ignore what is wrong. Now, obviously there are many greater wrongs than people going slow in the left lane. I think I have a very good balance in life, okay? I am much more bothered by the suppression of freedom in my country than I am by slow drivers in the left lane. But it doesn't mean I ignore that. I, I am very aware if I am in the left lane and I am going really fast, let's say 80 in a 65-mile-per-hour zone, and as a guy comes up and I see him in the rear, rearview mirror and he's closing in on me, I get out of the left lane. The guy's going 90, which I think is wrong. You may think 80 is wrong, and I appreciate that. But I get out of the way. You know who does that? Europeans. Europeans drive much better than Americans. They know there's a fast lane. I don't know, I think drivers ed teachers in the United States should all resign. I don't know what they teach. I really don't know what they teach. People don't have elementary skills like you speed up when you change a lane, you don't slow down. You speed up when you enter a highway, you don't slow down. You, you, there's a passing lane in England, it's on the right, in America it's on the left. And the larger issue, I am bothered by selfishness. I am bothered by a massive number of things. The last year and a half was a challenge to my happiness. I am watching my beloved America being destroyed. It's had an effect on me, but I still choose to be happy. It's a balancing act.
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