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鈥淲hat is happiness? The feeling that power is growing, that resistance is overcome.鈥� So wrote Friedrich Nietzsche in 1895.

I鈥檓 guessing that many of you would feel uncomfortable embracing this definition of happiness, especially coming from one of history鈥檚 most famous curmudgeons. If so, maybe in part it鈥檚 because too often we鈥檝e nodded in agreement with Lord Acton鈥檚 catchy caveat, 鈥淧ower tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.鈥� And who would want to risk corruption?

But what if we were to dig to the root, Latin meaning of power, 鈥渢o be able鈥�? Suddenly the word鈥檚 hard edge dissolves; power simply means efficacy鈥攐ur capacity, as philosopher Erich Fromm put it, to 鈥渕ake a dent.鈥�

Over the last decade the happiness quest has spawned bestselling books, college courses, retreats, and even a 鈥渉appiness conference.鈥� Most seem to offer similar advice: Once our basic physical needs are covered, more stuff does little to boost our happiness. Friendships, family, self-acceptance, and meaning in our lives are the core determinants of our happiness.

If happiness lies in covering basic needs plus satisfying personal ties and finding meaning, society鈥檚 role is limited.

I鈥檓 happy we鈥檙e talking about happiness, but disturbed, too, because I鈥檝e noticed that most happiness gurus fail to mention power. And why is that a big mistake? Because most human beings are not couch potatoes and whiners. We are doers and creators. In fact, the human need to 鈥渕ake a dent鈥� is so great that Fromm argued we should toss out Ren茅 Descartes鈥� 鈥淚 think therefore I am鈥� and replace it with 鈥淚 am, because I effect.鈥�

Even much of what we call 鈥渕aterialism鈥� is, I think, not about 鈥渢hings鈥� at all. It is a distorted, ultimately unsatisfying attempt to feel powerful, with status through possessions forced to stand in for power. If true, then addressing powerlessness is a direct way both to foster happiness and to overcome planet-destroying materialism.

There鈥檚 just one pathway to happiness in which this deep, human need for power is given pride of place: democracy. By this I mean democracy as a living practice that enables us to have a real say in every dimension of our public lives, from school to workplace and beyond.

Such power is expanding in part through a growing number of largely unseen citizen organizations. Among them is Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC), whose 5,000-plus members address concerns ranging from toxic dumping to open government.

Jean True, a leader in KFTC in the 1990s, told me, 鈥淚 was home raising kids for 10 years. I didn鈥檛 know anything about politics. I thought my only job was to vote.鈥�

When I asked Jean to tell me why she joined KFTC, she responded, 鈥淚t鈥檚 just the fun! That you can get together some regular people, go to the capitol, and make changes in state policy. 鈥� We have a great time doing what we do, going toe to toe and head to head with state legislators. We sometimes know more than they do! It鈥檚 the fun of power鈥攖he ant knocking over the buffalo.鈥�

On the other side of the world in the year 2000, I danced with women in a Kenyan village, feeling their exuberant happiness in their newfound power as village tree planters and organizers of women鈥檚 groups tackling problems from alcoholism to hunger.

That same year, I stood on a railroad platform in rural India with desperately poor people lying only a few steps away on grimy concrete. I turned to Jafri, the young Indian researcher traveling with us鈥攈e was helping some of his country鈥檚 poorest farmers escape the debt-and-toxins trap of chemical agriculture鈥攁nd I asked: 鈥淗ow do you keep going?鈥�

鈥淚 have to feel I am doing something to address the roots of suffering,鈥� he replied, 鈥渙r I couldn鈥檛 be happy.鈥�

Including power in our definition of happiness changes everything.

If happiness lies in covering basic needs plus satisfying personal ties and finding meaning, society鈥檚 role is limited. It need only ensure that essential needs are met and provide opportunities to pursue personal relationships and meaning. Even a largely totalitarian government could do that.

But, if we add power to the happiness equation, our agenda shifts. Maximizing happiness then requires engaging citizens in changing the rules and norms so that more and more of us are empowered participants. And, of course, joining with others in this exhilarating pursuit we achieve a double whammy: Such activity furthers the widely appreciated relational and meaning aspects of the happiness puzzle.

If, from our nation鈥檚 founding onward, we Americans have treated freedom and happiness as virtually synonymous, my point is a really old one. We might do well to replace the maxims of Acton and even Nietzsche with one uttered by Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero 2000 years ago: 鈥淔reedom is participation in power.鈥�

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Frances Moore Lapp茅 is the author or co-author of 20 books about world hunger, living democracy, and the environment, beginning with Diet for a Small Planet in 1971. She has been featured on numerous media and news outlets. Frances is the cofounder of three organizations including Food First and the Small Planet Institute, which she leads with her daughter, Anna Lapp茅. The pair also co-founded the Small Planet Fund, which channels resources to democratic social movements worldwide. For more information visit聽www.smallplanet.org聽and聽www.democracymovement.us

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