"Free love on the free love freeway"

I came across an article earlier that talked about how there has been a surge in focus on the economics of happiness, as opposed to, well, economics. However, the article went on to argue that it would be a better idea for the government to focus on freedom, rather than happiness - "If politicians need a single objective, then setting the people free is a lot better than forcing them to be happy", it said.
This has made me think about the two, such beautiful, words. Both of these terms, 'happiness' and 'freedom', are relatively synonymous anyway, aren't they?
The article explains that a government focusing on the objective of well-being does have many limitations.
It's difficult to a) define happiness and b) for the government to be able to do anything to anything in order to influence our levels of happiness. Okay, so there may be some little old man who would be over the moon at his local bus stop having seats again. But apart from that, I can see this failing. Just because Brown and Cameron seem to think it's a good idea to go on prime time television to answer brain-numbingly irrelevant questions ( I don't really want to know how 'free' Brown's love was when he was at University) to become more accessible to the public, doesn't mean they know what can make us happy. How do you introduce a policy so that there's no rain on good hair days, calorie-free chocolate and some way of there always being someone around when it snows to make a snowman with me?
I have to admit, though - the thought of having our freedom compromised is quite scary. Just because you know what will make you happy, and how to find it - if you weren't free to do so, then there'd be no point!
We're supposed to grow up chasing the dream job, obsessing over how to earn more money, for things to then fall into place around our fifties, when we resign in the knowledge that money doesn't buy happiness and we just wasted the last 30 years.
Would you rather be spoon-fed happiness, or have the right to find it yourself, with the risk of finding unhappiness, instead? I guess that's a bit like asking if you'd rather burn or freeze to death... my blog is very uplifting , isn't it?
The article also said that, apparently, Cameron is quite a fan of GWB (gross well-being). In my opinion, though, that's just stating the obvious....but it's nice to be reassured that a potential PM isn't a sadist.
I think, if anything, this has made me realise that I take my freedom for granted. If we didn't have the level freedom that we do in this country, Gordon Brown may have had to keep his love to himself at University.