Perhaps not, but it affords me a more comfortable kind of unhappiness. The whole question comes down to a massive reasoning error encapsulated in the belief: Money = Happiness. The first error is that while "money" is a clear concept, "happiness" is not. You have to consider what constitutes happiness for you. For some people it is material comfort, for others it is adventure, for others a sense of an euphoric high, for others loving relationships; for most, a mixture of all of the above. Consider carefully, and don't put all your happiness eggs in one basket (i.e. life goal). The second error is the straight equation of money equals happiness. But given the multidimensional nature of happiness, it can't come down to one single factor, can it? In scientifically expressed terms, money is a "necessary but not sufficient condition" for happiness. Money alone is not enough to make you happy, but it is one of the necessary conditions. Thus, the most important question is not: "Does money make you happy?", but "How much money contributes to your idea of happiness?" This is another area where people actually mess up. They think that "Money = (one condition for) happiness", ergo: MORE money = (one condition for) MORE happiness" (the other conditions usually being limited to Sex). This is a thinking error. The truth is that Enough money = one condition for your happiness. Depending on your concept of happiness, you can get by with a modest amount of money, or you need lots. But no matter how much you have, money alone will never be enough to make you happy. However it IS one of the necessary conditions. "Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope" --The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers
Right now, I don't have a job, and I have hardly any money for myself, I'm happy, but that's because I have a decent family and hobbies. When I have money (i.e. it was my bday, got a few hundred), I was a lot happier, I went out, bought stuff, got back, used it, was amazing. My family has been bankrupt, and they where not happy at all, and now the family business turns over a lot. Now, if you have silly amounts of money, high chances are that you will get with the wrong crowd i.e. gambling. If you can control your wealth and just be "normal", you'll be happy and laughing all the way to the bank for the rest of your life. You can be happy with no money, but the more money, the better, and happier you will be (unless like I said, you screw it up like Kerry Katona).
How about this CK. For the next week, halve the amount of time you spend on the pc everyday, and spend that time with your friends & family. It should become more clear as to what things make you happy. I earlier noticed you mention that you see construction workers slaving away for next to no money in the dirt, but why are they happy? Well i'm guessing that allthough they probably don't like their job much and have next to no money, they probably are good friends and enjoy each other's company? Or maybe they have a great family or great friends at home? Maybe they have all of these things? Sure they would be happier if they had some more money so they can buy more things, do more things, etc But what about this example: A rich guy, who has no friends, and no family? The only companionship he has is from bartenders, or waiters, customers, prostitutes, etc Who do you think is happier? the poor construction worker or the rich guy? Try what i said in bold ^
Rich guy, 100%. I'm in Egypt atm, and they work here for pennies. Poor workers here work for maybe £100 a month? Maybe that's pushing it. And the exchange rate here is high (£1 = £11 Egypt or something), but food is x11. So if you want a drink, it will cost you £8 Egyptian, and not 80p Egypt. Anyway the workers work 12 hour days, in the heat, with hardly any food. Cleaning roads, cutting trees, all day, everyday, **** job, **** life, they live in abandoned villas or if they are lucky, they have a shed or something with a bed and sink in. And if your rich, it's very easy to find friends, rich friends too.
I've seen American Psycho, rich friends are pompous and annoying, it will always turn into a competition of who has the most expensive and nicest stuff at some point.
I can say that living without money means No fast food, Cinemas, shopping, etc... Siting with family as a teenager sucks!!!! I prefer friends at this age.
Money can, or at least help people become happier but it does not make you happy automatically. For example. I'd be happier if I owned my own house and didn't have to worry about bills. I don't find any enjoyment with all that stuff and it actually gets me in such a stress sometimes that I start getting that dream where my teeth fall out. So in a way, money would make me happier in that aspect of my life.
I think people should distinguish between having enough money, alot of money and no money. Obviously if you have no money you cant eat, live or anything - ergo unhappyness. If you have enough money its easy to be happy
The thing about happiness is that not all the conditions for it have to be filled. A (partial) list of 'things I need to be happy' would include a significant other, a satisfying job, time for hobbies, and enough money. But I could be basically happy while missing one or more of those. I'd work to change it, because life would be better if I had it all, but being single or short on money isn't enough to make me a miserable person. You don't have to be content with every aspect of your life to be happy. Of course, I'm an optimist. Your mileage may vary.
This pretty much sums happiness up for me. "Consider the following. We humans are social beings. We come into the world as the result of others' actions. We survive here in dependence on others. Whether we like it or not, there is hardly a moment of our lives when we do not benefit from others' activities. For this reason it is hardly surprising that most of our happiness arises in the context of our relationships with others." Quote The DaLai Lama
Its like Milligan said, "All I ask is the chance to prove that money can't make me happy". The trouble with the human experience is that satisfaction is gleaned from the journey not from achieving the goal and goals can often be anticlimatic. Having money takes away that struggle, many tasks become easy and without the trials and adversity where does the satisfaction come from?
A big part is how the question is interpreted. Some take it as "Does having absurdly excessive amounts of money make you happy?" and others take it as "Does having enough money to live make you happy?" then there's also "Does having absurdly excessive amounts of money make you more happy than your loved ones?" (which can be confusing if your loved ones are the dollar bills in your wallet) and there's probably at least a few more ways to interpret the question...
answer = yes. Having money makes me happy. There are other things that make me happy as well, but money makes me happy for sure.
Yes. That is to say, if the money is made out of something stable, such as gold, silver, or diamonds.
Money makes nobody happy... Having/gaining money makes people happy, the idea of money just makes us all throw our arms up in the air, run around in circles, and scream AAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!
I enjoy the earning of money; I'm genuinely happy working 15 hour days, 6 days a week to get a client up and running. Sure the job pays well because of the work required but I would do it for less because of the sense of accomplishment when it goes right. Working obscene hours has made me appreciate the time I do have off to see friends and family. So I'm at my happiest for that one day a week off or the time in the evenings I have with the lady. The money I do stash away helps for when I do have holiday so I can afford the all in packages, the first class seats on trains or planes. It helps me to appreciate the little time I do have, more.
I think if you have lots of money your more likely to be happy but that's not to say if your poor or not well off you cant be happy, of course you can, just in different ways.
No, I dont think it does. I think people desire it because of the life style they think they want. Do I condem people that want to better them selves? No, Im in a position myself to want to go into business for my self because of the job situation being suck-ville. Wanting happiness and thinking that somehow these things tie into wealth is ludacris to me. Materialism, the strive for things, can be a very dangerious thing to many people. In the corrupt world we live in money talks volumes, and ethics soon fail. I dont want to be rich, I want enough to sustain myself, to keep a decent savings, to have a life outside of work. Money mongers make the dollar more valuable then the people, this is the reality I am learning about in the corporate world I work in. Its all that matters to them.... and it sickens me. Sorry I ranted. Self employment is looking better all the time....
