Does having more money bring happiness?
24 April 2008Does having more money bring happiness?
Yes I think it does. What kind of problems would you rather have?
Rich people problems
- honey, we can't go to Amanpulo this summer, no more bookings
- honey, no more space to park if you buy that Jaguar
- honey, we need to fix the roof and tiles
- driver is absent
Poor people problems
- honey, we need to buy instant noodles again, we're all out
- huh, i just bought one pack the other day, didn't you halve it like we discussed
- honey, the kids would have to stop studying this June, no more tuition money
- husband is sick so he will be absent so no extra money to buy food. back to noodles
Those are not derogatory scenarios against rich nor poor. Its a reality. Read on. . .
Yes…if you ask Betsey Stevenson and Freakonomics' Justin Wolfers as shown in the map below where darker region of the globe are the first world countries…
Why are we so obsessed with money and material things?
Most people don’t know and probably never learn, what they should do with their life. I understand that capitalism, competitive consumerism and the strive for money were the grease, that brought us on the road to progress and everlasting economical growth. With a few bumps along the way of course.
In most developed and developing countries, most people have an obsession with money and how to get hold of it. We all want to live the ‘American Dream’ globally. We are unhappy if we don’t have money, but even more so, if we have some. Then we want more! We have no choice! If we want to be part of the society, the system and obtain all the modern amenities we see on TV every day - we really don’t.
I’m not buying it!
We need to buy, consume and take part in all kinds of costly events and status-related nonsense. Escalating materialism. Keeping up with relatives and neighbours. Then the cycle turns further and more money is needed to keep the cycle going. There is a constant craving, the “hedonic treadmill”, as economists coined it. It gets you into debt or even faster into your grave. Our Governments want us to work longer and longer anyway. Tell them you want to get out and retire early and they will call you crazy. When is enough really enough?
Didn’t something get lost along the way?
When I see pepople in the US, Europe, Australia or countries like Japan, Malaysia, Thailand or Singapore striving for the “6 C’s”; that is Car, Cash, Career, Credit Card, Club Membership and Condominium, then I wonder what went wrong. Sometimes I really think, people have no serious goals in life, they are just living to get rich or watch TV.What defines a Happy Life? Is Competitive Consumerism really the only way to live ones life happily ever after?
Are we finally happy, if we have enough money, an apartment we own and a steady job, bringing us a 6-digit salary in cold, hard currency?
I wasn’t, but only found out after years of running around clueless in the so-called Rat Race. Traveling around the world opened my eyes somehow and luckily I found a way out. I don’t think, that getting out is what everyone wants, most people seem to be content with running the money cycle for life. They have ‘purchasable’ wishes and needs. Will they ever be able to live an Independent Life?
Is traveling an option to see in a different light what counts in life? Maybe not for most of my fellow countrymen, who like to travel year after year to the same beaches of Ibiza and Mallorca, crying and complaining, when the waitress doesn’t speak perfect German or their “Schnitzel” isn’t well-done, as it is at home.
And what could be done, to get more humanity back into this Cold, Competitive, Consuming World?
From NYT’s David Leonhardt, “In the paper, Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers argue that money indeed tends to bring happiness, even if it doesn’t guarantee it. They point out that in the 34 years since Mr. Easterlin published his paper, an explosion of public opinion surveys has allowed for a better look at the question. “The central message,” Ms. Stevenson said, “is that income does matter."
Read the entire article here or more from Freakonomics. and source prudentinvestornewsletters, nomad4ever,
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id rather be good looking than rich. kahit middle class lang pero kung doc aga naman looks mo malayo mararating mo hehhehe.
but then again being rich against being poor you know where i stand on this.
what a big problem bro. there are only a few people born handsome and beautiful
We should define “happiness” first. Is it a) an emotion or sensation or b) a state or condition. If merely arguing for a sensation, there are cheap shortcuts to that.
In either case, happiness seems to be a result, or a by-product of experience. People thrive on experience–whether it’s falling in love, traveling, eating, seeing, reading, talking, witnessing, etc. etc. Experience is the very essence of being.
Now the money = happy question is merely a result of our present capitalistic society. In order to experience anything, you gotta spend money.
So, yes, we need money to experience things. And we need experience to be happy.
However, this is just the basic equation. Money is a means to an end, but what the “end” is, can vary from person to person. Definitely being poor, or not having enough money, will limit the experiences you will have. But once money is abundant, or is not a “problem”, the question remains: what do you really want to do?
We all start by default, in search for happiness. Then because of capitalism, we search for money to buy those experiences that could make us happy. Most people never get past the “need to make money” level. This is simply how society is structured, and is also an effect of the scarcity of resources.
Then if you become one of the rare few to make it to the “comfy life”, you simply run through your “to-do” list of experiences, then having done that, presuming you have money left to spare–that’s when the real dilemma sets in.
People are divided in their approach to this dilemma:
a. some (like silentmax said) would rather not become ultra-abundant, and avoid that question. The journey is better than the destination–so keep traveling is the answer.
b. a few, once reaching the destination–pursue the “impossible dreams” that money can’t buy… yet: solve poverty, cure cancer, give back to society, etc.
All in all it seems like a shallow cycle. Few people succeed, and even fewer of those few know what to do once you succeed. Capitalism has encouraged progress, but seemingly at such a great price to pay. Perhaps a better way is in the horizon, but capitalism has to give way first.
(A thought: In the Star Trek fiction, man was able to being exploring the stars and building galactic colonies only after it abandoned capitalism after several climactic wars over scarce resources. Seems like anyway you think about it, having scarce resources and a whacked up method to distribute it will only get you so far.)