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Can money buy happiness? No, money is a material asset. In today?s world many of us revolve our lives around money, but does it really make us happy? We are contented when we go out buying, not only essentials, but also the latest cars, fashions, new technology, furniture, going on expensive holiday?s etc. Having all these congenial material items will make us happy but it is artificial happiness. True happiness lies within our spirit, to be happy not with material items, but with ourselves, our family, and the gifts God has given us.
When we buy certain items of ?value? they may give us pleasure, but pleasure is not the same as joy or happiness.
Pleasure fades quickly, and when pleasure is not connected to goodness and joy it has a bitter aftertaste. If we always choose pleasure over goodness and joy, we shall choke on the residues of the very pleasure that makes us who we are.
Happiness is not connected to being rich or poor.
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We all need fulfillment from sources other than money. It has been proven that forty-two percent of people would keep their current job, even if they won at least ten million dollars. For example a twenty-six year old Brooklyn (America) schoolteacher kept working despite winning sixty-five million dollars. She stated that, ?My job will keep me grounded, it is about life outside of money; relationships, and comfort.?. This shows us that there are people who will choose happiness after pleasure. The people who do choose happiness over pleasure will benefit it in the long run.
Even if they did loose all their money they would still have a job to go to in the morning, real friends and not people who have hopped on for a ride, and spiritual contentedness.
Money does not, will not, and should not ever equal happiness. Happiness should stem from the very simplest things in life: our families, the world around us, even getting mail! Life should be lived passionately; spent living, but not living for money. Be picky close your eyes and point; but make sure your choices make you happy. If you execute what makes you happy, you?ll be the richest person in the world.
Money is a source of short-term happiness and only gives us pleasure; it does not give us happiness or joy. Wealth is a material asset that gives us synthetic blissfulness, which will eventually fade away. Money can not buy true happiness, it buys artificial happiness. People who value money, beauty and popularity more so than they value intimacy, growth and community contribution are a lot less mentally healthy and a lot more unhappy. We all suffer the consequences of our choices, so make sure they are the right choices and we shall then devour the beneficial outcome. We must all look for genuine happiness money is unable to buy. Money does not, will not, and should not ever equal happiness. Money can?t buy happiness!
Many people have heard the saying “Money buys happiness”, but is that really true? Sure, we use money in our everyday life. Money is used to buy our food, clothes, and to pay for shelter, along with many of our other daily necessities. It is very important to us, even though many of us have never really thought about the affects it has on how we live and how it describes what kind of people we are. If money is so important to our survival, is it safe to say that money truly does buy our happiness?
Personally, I have reason to fight both ways, but in this case, I believe that in some ways money does buy you happiness. Everything that we have and use has been bought with money in some way. We have to buy the food we eat and the place where we fall asleep at night. Without these things, we can’t survive, and how can we be happy if we cannot live? For example, what about the people in other countries that has no food to eat and no water to drink? They are starving to death. Do they look happy with their bones clearly showing beneath their skin?
Sure, they may be happy knowing that they have their family to rely on, but what happens when their family dies from lack of food? Or think of the next homeless person you see on the street. They have nowhere to go and no place to live. You cannot be completely happy when you are always worrying about where your next meal will come from or where you will sleep in the cold. Another reason why I believe money buys happiness is our government and economy. Our government needs money to fix the damaged roads that we have and to help build new ones.
If we did not have our roads it would be extremely hard to move from place to place to visit new and old places and to make a living. Building new houses and destroying old and unsafe houses is also important to a person’s happiness. If we did not have a place to live we would have a difficult time surviving. With the climate changing rapidly, we can experience severe storms that we might not be able to survive without appropriate shelter. Our government also needs money to ensure our safety.
It takes money to pay for the people who ensure our safety. If we did not have the police or the fire department there would not be anyone to make sure everyone is following the law and is safe. Would you be happy if you had to worry about someone breaking into your house or harming someone you care about every day? If there was no one to ensure everyone was following the law, no one would be safe and everything would come out of hand. Many people have heard the saying “Money buys happiness”, but is that really true?
Sure, we use money in our everyday life. Money is used to buy our food, clothes, and to pay for shelter, along with many of our other daily necessities. It is very important to us, even though many of us have never really thought about the affects it has on how we live and how it describes what kind of people we are. If money is so important to our survival, is it safe to say that money truly does buy our happiness? Personally, I have reason to fight both ways, but in this case, I believe that in some ways money does buy you happiness.
Do you believe that your income is the main factor in determining your happiness? It is a classic debate that has reached its tentacles into the minds of our nation’s individuals and wrapped itself firmly around their minds having them strive for happiness. Money does not buy happiness. Too many Americans are so blinded by their own ignorance that they constantly pursue happiness as if it was a matter of circumstance rather than their own perspective. Such a way of life is crippling to those individuals because they miss the plethora of opportunities for happiness that surrounds them in every way of life.
Today, more and more people argue that money can buy happiness. Proponents of such a viewpoint often argue that money “makes the world go ‘round”. They may argue that it allows us to have carefree lives because we don’t have financial strain with money. They may argue that it gives people the ability to buy whatever they may want and that causes us to be pleased with our purchase. They may even argue that money allows one to be charitable to others.
Those who make these arguments have the wrong perspective of the world. Those who argue that many buys happiness and those who live their lives in such a manner can never really attain true happiness. Clearly, these people who are striving to make money are really just striving to be happy. They dedicate their lives to being happy and thus place very significant value on being happy. One study attempted to determine the paradoxical effects of valuing happiness. It concluded, “valuing happiness could be self-defeating, because the more people value happiness, the more likely they will feel disappointed“ (Savino et al. 807).
Furthermore, those that argue that happiness allows us to live carefree lives by removing the burden of financial strain need to change their perspective in order to truly be carefree. People living life in such a manner are never truly carefree because they constantly have the stress on them to be making more money in order to live a carefree lifestyle. Such a conditional “happiness” is not truly carefree.
Rather than living life in such a manner, people should remove the excessive stress of making money and appreciate their own respective situations. That certainly beats caging the circumstances under which they can thrive and be happy to only being included in a specific income bracket. Basically, put less value on how you regard happiness. “Valuing happiness may lead people to be less happy just when happiness is within reach” (Savino et al. 807).
Individuals who believe that money can buy them happiness may believe that money allows them to buy certain objects or allows them to have certain experiences that allow them to be happy. However, one study showed, “… that happiness seekers voluntarily choose to practice up to eight happiness strategies at a time suggests that by experience or instinct they have discovered a successful approach to the pursuit of happiness” (Lyubomirsky et al).
However, there was little correlation between the application of these happiness seeking strategies and an actual real-world application’s effect on a boost in well being (Lyubomirsky et al). There is close to no correlation between activities or objects that “happiness-seekers” seek to buy and their own happiness. Rather than believing you can buy happiness with your money, one should perhaps try helping an old lady cross the street. The good feeling in your belly after such a kind and gracious act is true happiness.
Raymond Angelo Belliotti argues that, “…leading a robustly meaningful, valuable life merits worthwhile happiness. But worthwhile happiness does not automatically follow from such a life. If we must choose, a robustly meaningful, valuable life is preferable to a merely happy life…” (Belliotti). I completely agree with Mr. Belliotti. However, I believe that placing value and finding meaning in all that we do will correlate to a happy life. Finding meaning in what we choose to do can be the true pursuit of happiness that attains happiness. Thus, it is the pursuit of meaning and value rather than a pursuit of money that gives one happiness.
Throughout history, the adage that money does buy happiness has been disproven. If this argument was true, then the argument would be made that serfs, peasants, and all poor or financially unprivileged individuals throughout history were unhappy. However, when put it such a broad context, that argument seems ridiculous. Throughout all of history, individuals found happiness in love, their families, their religions, their surroundings, their countries, etc. Uncivilized human beings who had no concept of money probably found much more happiness in all that they did because they lived without the shackles of the concept of money.
One fascinating study was conducted that may silence those who believe money can buy happiness forever. “This study provides the first evidence that money impairs people's ability to savor everyday positive emotions and experiences. In a sample of working adults, wealthier individuals reported lower savoring ability (the ability to enhance and prolong positive emotional experience). Moreover, the negative impact of wealth on individuals' ability to savor undermined the positive effects of money on their happiness” (Mikolajczak, et al).
This study clearly demonstrates the inability to have a prolonged positive emotional experience in wealthier individuals. This study literally states that money cannot buy happiness in other words. Furthermore, it goes on to say that those who have money actually tend to be less wealthy. This study gives evidence that could give so many people so much happiness if they applied it to themselves and stopped believing that money could buy happiness.
The individuals who argue for the idea of money buying happiness may argue that money allows individuals to be more charitable and therefore allows individuals more happiness through their charitable work. Certain wealthy individuals like Bill Gates even has his own charity, which truly does magnificent work and helps the world. However, people are not all as privileged as Bill Gates. Individuals who have less money can still be incredibly charitable and save many lives.
For example, thinking outside the box, volunteering at homeless shelters, helping the elderly, helping individuals around you in need on a daily basis, planting trees, etc. all have great benefits and can help the lives of many people! All you really need to do to be charitable is ask yourself what it is that interests you and put your efforts into pursuing that charitable task!
In conclusion, money simply does not buy anyone happiness. Happiness is a result of our perspective and how we see the world around us. People have found happiness is the worst circumstances imaginable. Many stories are told of those who survived the holocaust who put all their efforts into finding some piece of beauty around them in order to be happy. Something as simple as appreciating the sunrise can make someone happy. Happiness is not limited to high net worth individuals. Happiness is not reserved for the people who have money.
Happiness is a human emotion and experience that is engrained into who we are as living creatures. Living things all around us experience happiness. My dog literally does not have a penny to his name (unless he has been stashing hundred dollar bills that I am unaware of), and literally is one of the most joyful things when he is taken to the park to run around with his owner and the other dogs. Happiness surrounds us in everything we do, it permeates every situation, money does not buy it; it is only attainable when you realize it was always there in the first place. Just reach out and grab it.
Money Can't Buy Happiness. (2016, Jul 09). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/money-cant-buy-happiness-essay
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