In Robert Heinlein’s novel “Farnham’s Freehold”, the protagonists accidentally end up in a very technologically advanced feudal society that depends on a drug called “Happiness” to control things and keep social classes rigidly separated. The hypothesis of this question: the drug is a pleasant tasting drink you take daily. It has no known negative side effects. It rapidly induces a feeling of deep contentment, peace, clarity of mind and general satisfaction with your life. You will not become physically dependent on it. You don’t have to pay anything to get it. A small, unchanging dose must be taken every day to maintain this effect, but you don’t control its distribution. It is distributed by the ruling class of your society, but no one is coerced to take it, as they are psychologically dependent on it. After many centuries of Happiness distribution, no one has shown desensitization or needed a higher dose. The protagonists in the book rejected their doses, escaped briefly and were recaptured. Would you take Happiness? Why or why not?
I mean I was happy on antidepressants before college and I still opposed capitalism/the ruling class. I’m sure there are others like me who oppose the ruling class for practical, rational, and ethical reasons, i.e. I’m not going to stop being an anarchist because my personal life gets better.
So I’d chug that shit all day every day, and I’d use some of that energy to protect people who don’t want to chug it for whatever reason.