Money vs. Happiness

Okay I bet that around these forums, there are lots of articles and threads like this, but I decided to take my chances and post another one.
I will need your opinion on this so let me know what you think.
Recently I read an article on this and it inspired me to start this discussion.
The eternal dilemma. Money and happiness.

It is no lie that the society in which we live and we are a part of, has a tendency to judge and evaluate it's people not by the contents of their character but rather by their physical appearance. This isn't anything new and certainly isn't a shock to anyone. So instead of trying to make a change in our society's values and unwritten rules we just continue to encourage them. Now I know that there is a whole philosophy and lots of theories behind consumerism and fashion, superficial trends, etc. And I think that we can leave that for another occasion.
As superficial as it sounds, maybe money does help when reaching the state of happiness. Maybe we, ordinary man, when provided with enough resources to sustain ourselves an our families and even provide them with commodity and a bit luxury feel more fulfilled and certainly have less problems to worry about. But can we actually stop and know when it's enough?

I'm pretty young and immature and till recently money and material things made me really happy. Like buying clothes(that still kinda fulfills me a bit ), new gadgets and stuff...but now, I just don't feel it anymore. That changed when I fell in love a year and a half ago(I'm not in love right now) but anyway maybe discovering that there is a feeling that satisfies you more is what made me think like this.
Even though everyone expects you to "succeed" in life by walking on the standard path that society has set for you(nice job, nice car, marriage..the usual c**p), I think that we don't live our lives for other people and suiting others doesn't result in happiness...Okay now I can't stop talking, to wrap things up, what is your opinion?

Whoever said money doesn't buy happiness didn't know where to shop.

We buy stuff we don't need, with money we don't have, to impress people we don't like

Money vs. Happiness?
Does money make you happy(Why?/Why not?)

Just take a look at those that have all the worlds wealth, do they look like they're about to give it all away?
Nope!
They want MORE!!!

We/They have designed a world where money does buy happiness.

To 1 its a tool to survive in this current materialistic world... This tool can cause an illusion of happiness for some but upon further observation the happiness may be temporary. That is why 1 considers it a tool to survive. Like many other tools needed to survive in todays world it can be misused and overtake a persons spirit if not careful with its gifts it produces...

You had the answers basicly right in your OP. Money does not buy happiness unless your happiness is dependent on money. I know people who love money, I have seen them tumble also.

I feel sorry for those who need money to be happy, it is like having a noose around your neck with a chain secured securely to a certain spot. I just can't comprehend how someone could idolize paper that much. I'de rather go pick blueberries than to go on a shopping spree. I'm sick of spending money, it is always a chore making sure you are not ripped off or overpaying for something. Trying to justify your purchase when you know it wasn't really necessarily needed is also such a drain.

reply to post by JohnnyJohn4578


I think it is Imperative to Differentiate between Happiness and Comfort.

Money Definitely does NOT buy Happiness. However, it does make life a little more comfortable to live.

Case in point. Go have a look at people that have won Millions in Lotteries.

In Almost every case those people say that the money brought them nothing but pain and suffering.

Money has always made me happy. Growing up poor I have never seen much money so I have always been jealous of others who had it better than I did as a kid. I also love mathematics and being able to understand the value of money. I would love to be a businessman who would be responsible with the economy to enable to make it flourish.

Everyone is different. A lot of people do not understand the value of a dollar. I do! Which makes me feel like I know something many chose to ignore and therefore never use their money properly. I feel I can change that and make the world a better place.

Which is why I love money and economics.

reply to post by ShadellacZumbrum


What about people who love to buy stuff. Like people who enjoy playing video games, etc. I guess it's what's out there to buy from stores.

reply to post by Phoenix267


I would term that Artificial Happiness. It really is Only a minor remedy.

Let's say that a lonely guy has no one in his life to share anything with. For a couple of hundred dollars he can go out and buy happiness for the night. But, after she cleans up and leaves, he is still lonely. It was only a remedy and Not a cure.

I'm happy. I'm wealthy.

-eom-

Happiness is really dependent on the individual. Money may help some people to achieve true happiness, but it's only a factor among many things. Best example I can give is in relation to my own life.

To start, I want to state that around 8 years ago, I had to have surgery. At that time, I didn't have insurance. So, yeah, it ended up costing me around $25k+ to pay it all off. Because I just recently got a new job, money wasn't flowing in as much as I liked. Well, after a few years, I did eventually get it all paid off, just ended up getting hounded by debt collectors constantly throughout the day, every day. Not a sob story, just helping paint a picture.

During that time, one of my best friends moved to a city about an hour away, and got a very good job. Last I recall, he was making over $40k/year doing graphic design. He was well liked at his job, and was with a bunch of friends that he knew back from his college days. He's a very sociable guy.

Only reason I paint these pictures, is because during one of his visits, he told me something that stuck with me. He looked at me, knowing full well that I did not have a car, worked a job that I didn't like, rode the bus to work, or walked six miles to and from. I was being hounded by debt collectors(though at that time, not as bad as before), and I had very bad credit. Yet, despite all of that, I was happy. Genuinely happy with life. He was jealous, because he was not happy. I don't remember his exact words, but what he told me was something like this.

"I have everything in life I'm supposed to have. I have a good job, make a lot of money, paid off my debts, and am doing what I was told I'm supposed to do, yet I'm not happy. You're poor, in debt, working a bad job, and you're happy. I don't get it."

It made me happy, and sad to hear him say that. Happy, because that despite what life's given me, I could keep being happy, but sad to know that my best friend was far from it. Sad to know that he's attained everything he's wanted, but couldn't find happiness. I haven't talked to him in awhile, but I really do hope he's happy.

So with that example, I can honestly say that money will not bring happiness to anyone. What brings happiness, is the self. Money just may be a factor in attaining what they desire. But not for everyone.

I consider that we can make associations with anything, that can become a source of a happiness.
Some people even develop a sense of happiness from pain... or negative attention.....or struggle.

We start off as babies with very basic survival needs, and a body with a built in system that associates experiences, and sets up attraction- repulsion responses to them.

At one point, when hungry, we find out that with money we can fulfil the hunger. Or the cold, or the need for comfort, security, affection..... soon the association is automatic, like Pavlovs dogs- we feel a pulsion towards money. It doesn't have to anything behind it.

In animal training, some people like to use "clicker" training. You hold a little thing in your hand that makes a click sound when you press it. Every time you pet the animal, or give it a treat, or otherwise give it pleasure, you click at the same time. After a while you just need to click and the animal has a physiological reaction inside as if you had petted it or fed it- even if you didn't. This way you can train them and they search out and will do anything to hear the click.

For someone who missed out on that process, they'd wonder why an animal would feel such a strong desire to hear a clicking sound!

But we develop addictions to the chemicals our bodies produce. So whatever we have trained our body to react to with a spurt of our "natural drug" becomes what we seek out. That could be objects, (such as money) or people (being in love), or activities (a sport, or hobby) . These things become cues like the clicker.

One can even train their body to respond with that spurt in reaction to a thought. A specific perspective, spiritual view.... self hypnosis is useful for implanting... cults use this in the indoctrination process.

Happiness can come from whatever you want it to, if you think through your training program carefully.

reply to post by ShadellacZumbrum


That's interesting. I was think along the lines of people who enjoy things they can do by themselves or with their friends. Maybe it's because I grew up with America was very commercialized and everyone played inside. I can recall playing video games by myself and with my friends all the time.

I guess it goes down to the person who does what makes their happy. People like to make fun of geeks who waste their money of toys. However, they're not hurting no one and it makes them happy. I feel if you enjoy using your money to buy something that makes you happy like video games. I feel you should make sure you set your priorities straight and make sure you have more to life.

reply to post by JohnnyJohn4578

As superficial as it sounds, maybe money does help when reaching the state of happiness. Maybe we, ordinary man, when provided with enough resources to sustain ourselves an our families and even provide them with commodity and a bit luxury feel more fulfilled and certainly have less problems to worry about. But can we actually stop and know when it's enough?

Money is a shallow crossing over a deeper stream. With money, you can buy material goods that bring joy to your physical existence. You can't buy love, but you can buy someone who seeks those material things who will offer an artificial version of affection.

With money, you can travel the world and see places that most of us today only dream of... or rely on Google maps/streetview to experience. From there, you can sample culture and cuisines and in any given moment of paradise, find something worth saving in your heart.

But... in other places, people work hard every single day of their lives and find more resolve and reward when the sun rises. They gaze out over the vista and thank god for their blessing of life. In these homes, love is real because it has to be... spouses, children, pets... it is all very real and very rewarding in ways that cannot even be imagined otherwise.

Finally, there are those who stare out naked windows into urban blight... Detroit, New York... it doesn't matter. Here you are born and here you are bound for all of this life. You do what you can...

Money... how wonderful a concept except... it's not available to all.

Well i would sooner be happy than have money anyday. As it stands i have neither, But i know what i would want first and its happiness everytime

I see the thought of money buying happiness, true only when you have as much money as those whom YOU think are happy. Many people use money as a measure by which to gauge when they're happy. Those who are more independent then those who gauge their happiness by others, get their happiness through what they bought with their money. Be it the latest mobile device, a home or a woman. (Try to get a woman to love you without spending any money on her. It won't happen)

In this day and age, no matter how hard you try, you cannot be truly happy without money as long as you're a part of this society. No man is an island when it comes to others' perceptions of him, we all care to a certain degree what people think, and peoples' perceptions of others comes right down to money. You walk into a car dealership wearing 10 year old clothes that haven't been washed in a week, the salespeople aren't going to pay any attention to you. Pull 20,000 dollars in cash out of your pocket and they'll all want to be your friend. Try it as a social experiment sometime......it works.

Money changes everything. To the weak, it blurs the line between right and wrong. To the strong, it weakens their faith that there is actually hope for people.

Comfort is pivotal in gaining happiness. If you are struggling to put food on the table, keep a roof over your head, pay the bills, and constantly worrying that debt collectors are coming to take whatever little you have, then you will not be happy. Money resolves those things.

Comfort doesn't mean a yacht. It can mean a yacht. And sure who wouldn't want to swan around on a yacht all afternoon sipping champagne.

Comfort is simply being content with the things you have which allow you to focus on things that do make you happy.

So money does buy happiness. Whoever said it was probably equating wealth with happiness. You can be wealthy and still struggle to find time to be happy. Sometimes to be wealthy people put off living, putting every hour of the day into work, and eventually they will die and it won't be happiness they leave behind but a big bank account that some government slob will sweep up.

Happiness also doesn't imply bouncing out of bed every day and singing to the flowers. That's mania. Happiness needs to be offset with sadness for it to have any meaning.

I have no money, but I know if I did, then I could drive to where I need to, buy the things I need right now, and this would lead me to a more comfortable journey. And as long as I act in accordance with my values and endeavour to find the outcomes that fit in with my goals, that's all I can ask at this point.

Ever seen a homeless person handing out bouquets to show how happy they are? Oo

Well i dont think money makes you happy I think experience's make us truly happy andthese exoerience's are soemthign we should value. Because we can actually take those with us and thay can alst more then gadgets that will be useless or want be used ina couple of years.

Your first kiss you remember, you can take with you

and yes I know sometimes money might be and ends to the mean of getting these enriched experience's. be it a great night out on the town or a fancy vacation trip acorrss the world. Money can ofcourse help in those area's but having money is not what turly makes us happy. I think it is experinces that for all of us mean different things and hold different meanings for us

"money cant buy you happiness"
said the bitter poor person.i dont hear many rich people saying that.

i think rich people are happier and have better live's.
i think people who say otherwize are kidding themselves.

Happiness and money? Being rich means you can be miserable on a full stomach, or being poor means you can be bloody miserable on an empty stomach, I'll take being rich any any day.

Having money doesn't directly make me happy but it allows me to pursue the hobbies that make me happy. Within reason it also removes the stress of living check to check. Because of where I am in my career I don't have to think" I just spent $150 on food, how am I going to pay for it?"
I can tell you that I would rather be financial viable then struggling.