Does money=happiness?

[acidboy]

Originally Posted by mr.loverman

basic needs

health
-good food
-exercise
-rest

freedom from stress

good family/friend relationships

having skill or talent in something you enjoy and makes you feel competent, potent, powerful, useful, etc. this should also be something that challenges you and that you can progress in. skills, trades, hobbies, passions. you need these.

fun & adventure

.....

 

[tiecollector]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

again, speaking only of personal experience - the people I know (and I believe it is about 12-15) who inherited enough money to live well without ever working, are all unhappy, and pretty screwed up. from those, though, the happiest are the ones that have worked and focused on building a life that isn't dependent on their inherited money, and the most misrable are the ones that never were able to get off their asses and work

This is also why welfare doesn't work. Working is good for the soul.

 

[Brian278]

I'm fairly certain that while it has some merit as a general concept through which to think about the topic, that part of Maslow's work has been largely disproven.

 

[Viktri]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

To quote The Matrix, ignorance is bliss. Someone that grows up without a lot of material possessions will be a lot happpier on a 30k salary than someone that grew-up being able to ski every weekend, take yearly vacations to Europe, go to nice restaurants, etc. It's the fact that you know what you're missing that negatively impacts your happiness.

As for your friends, they're in a different stage of life where they're expecting to be poor. Sure, you can live in montreal on 15k net a year, but someone that's lived better sure as hell wouldn't want to. One of the best things about Montreal, imo, is the dining and fresh food markets. There's a pretty strong culinary tradition here. I go to the market every weekend to get good quality stuff. I couldn't live off supermarket olive oil and cuts of meat.

I think it's just two completely different mindsets. Speaking for myself, I've always expected a good job and a good salary (which I would define as over 100k). Anything less and I will be unhappy with myself.

I disagree about the reason why people are happier than others. I don't think it has to do with ignorance.

Lots of people, like me, are happy that we've had the chance to do some marvelous things (week long expenditions and trips) and some expensive things thanks to our parents and know we haven't had a chance to do things. I'm catching up on the things I've missed out on, but I never was unhappy because I didn't experience. Furthermore, I was never unhappy I didn't get more opportunities to do things I had done that were special (travel Europe, attend a top school in Europe for a short period of time, etc).

I think happiness is more personal and relies on personality. I've grown up where material possession is all that matters (I mean, that's the HK mindset) but somehow (maybe those philosophy classes ?) I've never been unhappy that I've never had the opportunities to do things I wanted to. Maybe it's because I know (and I say this without entitlement; I'm willing to work hard to get there) I'll be able to afford what I want in the future.

 

[Toiletduck]

Originally Posted by acidicboy

It's peculiar I've only heard people with money say that money doesn't bring happiness.

How is it peculiar?

If you didn't have money, you wouldn't know what it is like!

 

[Saucemaster]

Originally Posted by Mustapha

May I amplify your point by saying that unearned money can also cause a type of foolish pride and a type of social disconnect.

As abundantly evidenced in this thread, not least by the OP....

 

[emptym]

I said goods are good, but it's better to be good than to possess goods.
On reflection, I think my position is summarized best by saying,

Goods are good, better still is to be good, but best of all is to both be good and to possess goods.

 

[qwerty]

hmm i can relate to you as my parents grew up with nothing and had everything by the time they had me and i grew up in Hong Kong with everything i wanted whenever i wanted it. i probably had it even better than you. but with that said, the down side was i never got to see my parents at all for my whole childhood and i was basically raised by 2 nannies. Moved to Canada when I was 7 and parents retired. Although they "made up" for the time I couldn't spend with them for the first 7 years of my life, I still feel empty inside when I think about my childhood and I don't think money equates to happiness at all as I basically try to cover up my sorrow by buying everything I possibly can and that make me happy for what, 2 minutes?
I know people that make practically nothing but live life positively and happily, and I am really envious of them for actually having a real meaningful childhood, which I think is so important.
Money can buy all the materialistic things you want, sure. I guess it really depends how you define happiness. Mine would be being around friends and family. Witnessing first hand this summer that money certainly did not save the lives of two of my family members diagnosed with cancer, I can say money doesn't equate to happiness and power in my books.

 

[Chris "Italia"]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Crane

These days, 50k a year really isn't a whole lot.


However, in 1923, it was.

 

[Chris "Italia"]

Originally Posted by Connemara

More proof that children ruin your life. Without children, I will have a Rubinacci wardrobe by 33.


Having children: one of the greatest things of life.

 

[ghulkhan]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

fair question - I have been poor, more than once, and I have been comfortable, more than once. hainvg money is much better than not. I just took my kids to disneyword and orlando, where I never was able to go as a kid. for somebody like me, every time I blow some money on something like that, it strikes me how my father could never have afforded it, even though he worked very very hard his whole life.

frankly, this is a relavant question for me - I take great pride in the fact that I started working (really working, that is, for people who hired me because they saw an economic advantage to doing so, not because they were friends of my parents or thought I was cute) at 11, and have been working ever since. supporting myself since I was in my mid teens. when I see Jet Blast complaining about his job, or Connemara begging for money, it reminds me of the contrast with how I grew up. on the other hand, my children will ( unless some real tragedy hits us) grow up somewhat previeleded. I face a dilema - do I artifically create a situation where they have to work, to build charactor, or do I give them things I would have liked to have but couldn't, and maybe end up with spoiled weak kids?


to answer your question - a certain amount of money makes you happy, as long as you make sure you try to be happy - you can't be happy without having the right attitude, no matter how much money you have.


I know you are huge on character and believe that working to support yourself does so however I think that a lot of other variables contribute to building "character". I know plenty of people who work and have been working since their early teens and they dont have much "character" Creating a situation artificially to force your kids to have a job might not necessarily do more good than harm. Yes I know you've had a great life with many experiences that have built your character and that you have more of an authority on the subject than I do but when you say that having a job or joining the French Foreign Legion helps build character thats just not always true. You might do things that accord with someone of a good character but it does not mean that you will for sure just by doing it one day build such a character so your all your great actions in life start resulting from having such a good character. It just seems as if there are many more variables that contribute to such a personality. These are things you might be aware of and things that we might not be aware. And to say that we are sure as to what things might build character is a fallacy in itself.

 

[ghulkhan]

Originally Posted by Chris "Italia"

Having children: one of the greatest things of life.

Having a Rubinacci wardrobe: one of the greatest things of life

 

[FidelCashflow]

Originally Posted by Connemara

More proof that children ruin your life. Without children, I will have a Rubinacci wardrobe by 33.
Lucky for you your parents didn't think like this. EDIT: I just looked at the rubinaci site out of curiosity to see what they had. If I'm looking at the right one, the rubinacci napoli site, I don't see what you're so excited about. The stuff there looks OK, but nothing earth shattering.

 

[Chris "Italia"]

Originally Posted by ghulkhan

Having a Rubinacci wardrobe: one of the greatest things of life



Why not both and have money like The Donald?

 

[ghulkhan]

Originally Posted by Chris "Italia"

Why not both and have money like The Donald?

Now thats what Im talking about...