...What Money Can’t Buy. We need it to pay the bills, eat and sleep in our warm homes. Most importantly we need it to survive. Money plays a very important role in everyone’s life across the world. Money can be the most important thing in the world, but many forget that there are many other things that hold value, more than the dollars in your bank account. Still, very astonishing to me how one piece of paper can control the minds of billions of people. How we let it dictate a majority of our life and think that we need it to make us happy. Even though money can buy you all the lavish goods in the world, but it can never buy you happiness, knowledge, good health, love or time. In my personal experience with money, I’ve had the amount of an average American family. Meaning that I wasn’t filthy rich but I wasn’t poor either. The amount that I have is enough to make me happy because I’m not struggling with anything life food and other necessities. I don’t live comfortably, because my idea of comfortable is not having to work, but I still have to pay bills and maintain. But, looking at others who don’t have much money makes me appreciate my life more even if I am not wealthy. Being average isn’t so bad when you still have gratitude. Money can’t buy you happiness and I actually believe that in some ways money can actually negatively consume your life. What I mean by this is, say for instance someone is desperate for money, they will do anything to get their hands on it. That...
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...Money cannot buy happiness Good morning. Today, I’m going to talk to you about how money cannot buy happiness. Happiness. What is happiness? Is buying a new iPod happiness? Or is buying someone’s love for you called happiness? Actually I’m sure if I ask anyone what it is, there is no definite answer. If a girl wanted a Barbie doll for her birthday but instead her mother gives her a soft toy she says she is unhappy and she doesn’t love her. But how can materialistic goods make us happy or sad and decide someone’s love for us? When did money ever start to buy our happiness? Firstly, money isn’t everything. Some people think their lives, love, death, friends, families; time and health all revolve around money. It is this type of thinking that causes one to work like they own someone a living. It is this type of thinking that causes one to lose their loved ones after he or she gets richer. It is this type of thinking that causes one to regret not cherishing anything and only caring about money. Money manipulates us to think it is our lives but our lives are invaluable. Money may mean something to us, but it is not everything. Secondly, doesn’t mean you have money, you are happy. The world’s happiest people are not in Qatar, the richest country in the world, nor are they in Japan, the nation with high life expectancy. Rather a poll done by more than 150,000 has shown that the happiest people are in Latin America. Even with its poor living conditions, the people are still happier...
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...THE RELATION BETWEEN WEALTH AND HAPPINESS A1: The articles The Sandra Bullock Trade and But Will It Make You Happier? both dis-cuss the relation between wealth and happiness, and it doesn’t require much to figure out, that these articles agree that happiness doesn’t depend on wealth in general. But as The Sandra Bullock Trade nearly refuses any connection between the two and even states that “if you have an unsuccessful marriage (…) you will remain significantly unfulfilled” (p. 2), But Will It Make You Happier? points out that even though happiness isn’t dependent on income, your buys will influence your mood. The Sandra Bullock Trade acknowledges that poor people are generally unhappier, but the article also claims that as long as your basic needs are fulfilled, money makes no difference. This is probably the biggest disagreement between the articles, as But Will It Make You Happier? is somewhat more capable of differ-entiating the dilemma. Instead of just having a one-tack mind, the article focuses on both the pleasure that money can bring, but it also declares how we are more likely to find joy when we buy social activities than when we buy material objects. A2: The Sandra Bullock Trade catches your attention from the very beginning. The headline itself makes you want to read it, because a celebrity like Sandra Bullock is a person that will instantly catch your attention whether you want her to or not. Another means, which The Sandra Bullock Trade uses, is to turn...
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...Does Money Equal Happiness? Many people think money is the key to happiness. Happiness is the state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy, which means happiness is an emotion. An emotion is what you feel. Emotions can be short lived or long term. Some emotions, like fear, can come and go. Long lasting fear usually is undesirable. Happiness, on the other hand, is an emotion that most people would like to experience over the long term. People often seek short-term ways to make them feel happy. But, long-term happiness is a bit more challenging to create. Money certainly can buy things that can make a person happy...for a while. In today’s world, IPhones, fancy cars, and nice clothes seem to have become a necessity in life. The problem is, soon there is a newer phone or a fancier car. People can get stuck in a never-ending cycle of trying to buy short-term happiness. Over a lifespan, purchases meant to provide short-term happiness can result in insufficient money for the necessities of life ultimately resulting in unhappiness. Money may actually not be necessary in the first place. There are numerous examples where people who have a lot less are happier. If you travel outside of the typical American city you can find that buying happiness with money is not always the case. I got to meet someone who was happy with having less. When my family and me went on a cruise, we had a waiter who was working on his son’s birthday. Not...
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...The world today revolves around one thing: money. Money makes and defines society, however it is debated wether or not that much influence has a positive or negative effect. Money however, is not the key to a happy and prosperous life. People and experiences influence ones life much more than money ever could. Money creates a sense of importance and a constant comparison to everyone around. Although money can bring forth many glamorous things to someone's life, this does not influence the phycological well being of a person, therefore money is not happiness. Money does not directly buy happiness, it simply distracts one from their true source of happiness. In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s speech, titled “The Drum Major Instinct”, King goes into detail about how when people obtain money, it creates a sense of entitlement and an “I'm better than him” mind set. Money leads to a constant comparison of people to themselves. Even back in the 1950s when the Civil Right movement was stirring in America, people used money as a way to compare themselves to the less fortunate. Money was an object used to wave in another's face to attempt to get a reaction....
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...whose parents were on government assistance, students whose parents were in the top 10% of the top 1% financially and everywhere in between. Consider this, if you took a group of randomly selected students from my high school and your goal was to estimate their household income based upon the value of their possessions (phone, clothes, jewelry, shoes, etc...) you'd most likely get it all wrong. This is because it doesn't matter where you come from, how much money you have, or what you look like; you're a customer, you're a consumer. We live in a society today and I went to a high school where people are judged based upon their possessions and what they can acquire. It doesn't matter how you acquired it, as long as you've got it. I think that judging people based off of what they own is a huge mistake. I think it's unfortunate we are constantly purchasing things because of a brand or a logo, but at the same time I don't practice what I'm preaching. It's interesting to me that as I begin to think about it, I don't think any of the nice things I own are bringing me happiness right now, they have only provided some form of instant gratification. If someone asked me what I have to be happy about, I'd provide the cliché answer along the lines of “a loving family, food, and a roof over my head”; that's the truth and none of the above cost a dime. Throughout the article's I read, I believe they reinforced my original opinions on consumerism but also broadened my understanding of the issue...
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...If money doesn’t buy happiness, what does? Many people believe that having more money is going to make them happier in life, but does money really provide true happiness? After reading the passage “Yes, Money can buy happiness,” by John Tierney, explains that people are more often to be happier when they spend money on others rather than spend money on themselves. In my opinion many people believe having more money will make their lives happier and free of all worries. In my life money has provided food, clothing, and shelter our basics needs in life but I came to a conclusion where my satisfactory is not enough. I complain that I need more money and that it will solve all the solution to my problems. But in reality money is never going to be enough to buy my happiness in life, because the more we have the more we need and want. For example, I went shopping to the citadel outlets with my family, less than a few hours I spend about four hundred dollars. I looked at other people and I wish I had more money to spend in order to feel enjoyment and more satisfaction. Then, I look into my partner eyes and say to him, I realize with money you can become selfish, destructive and greedy but on the other hand it can help you discover a world you never knew because we all know money can open the doors to many objects in life. Such as, having the opportunity to explore the world, to have all the materials in life. Furthermore, I do agree that buying does bring happiness to everybody...
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...making money and earning a reputable place in the society is the most important goal of the human life but experience has taught me that living a life filled with satisfaction and content is much more important. In our society, children are taught to adopt a profession that will help them get financially stable. The whole purpose of our education is to prepare the young children for the job market so that they could either become a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer or any other profession that is accepted by the society. A profession that will enable the child to earn money and become a respected part of the society. People think of life as a struggle for survival where the sole purpose is to make enough money for living a comfortable life. People get so much involved in the process of money-making that they forget that there is more to life than having a healthy bank account, an expensive house and a nice car. But through my experience of life, I have lived to learnt that the true joy and happiness of life doesn’t come from the money or the stature of a person in the community he/she lives, it actually comes from the human relationships and the deeds of benevolence, kindness and compassion. “Happiness is only real when shared” said Christopher McCandles. Money can buy us the luxuries in life but it cannot buy happiness. Happiness is not something that can be bought. It is felt only when either you have done something for someone or it’s the other way around. Money doesn’t stay forever...
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...What is happiness and do we cause our own happiness? What is happiness, how do we know when we have achieved happiness if it is not measured. If it is not profitable then why is it so important to so many people? And if it is not tradable then how do we achieve it, do we cause our own happiness. So what is happiness “The quality or state of being happy. Is the dictionary definition but then what does being happy mean? Happiness is arguably the strongest and most powerful feeling we can experience but, how do people understand happiness? Philosophers have an understanding of happiness and have boiled it down to two reasons hedonia and eudaimonia. Hedonia means happiness is the polar opposite of suffering; the presence of happiness indicates the absence of pain. Because of this, hedonists believe that the purpose of life is to maximize happiness, which minimizes misery. Eudemonia defines happiness as the pursuit of becoming a better person. Eudaimonists do this by challenging themselves intellectually or by engaging in activities that make them spiritually richer people. The main distinction between these two is that hedonia uses the idea that happiness is achieved by external things whereas eudaimonia believes that happiness comes from within us. Let’s take a closer look at the first idea. Hedonia which states that happiness is achieved by external things, such as things we want or already own. A flash car, a three story house or having lots of money, after all what person...
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...In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of the major themes was money and social class, and how it affected each of the characters. Jay Gatsby believes in the need for wealth and materialism in order to obtain love from Daisy, but is crushed by a world of unattainable dreams. With the use of money-related diction to illustrate that wealth is pursued for the sole purpose to impress others and to bring happiness, Fitzgerald demonstrates that during the 1920’s, money was most important to people in order to gain social class, but resulted in the complete opposite. Daisy is a good example of how money has influenced her and even changed her throughout the novel. She met Gatsby and fell in love with him despite how he had no money or social class. Once he went off to war, she promised to wait for him, but once she met Tom, she couldn’t resist his wealth, and...
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...is "The Sandra Bullock trade" The text focus lies on money, David Brooks opinion is that money doesn't make us happier! Person relations are much more important than a career and a lot of money! In the start of the text he uses an example of Sandra Bullock that gives us a view on the relationship between wealth and happiness. Sandra won a big price and was ensured a good future with lots of money and acknowledgment, what many people would se as a dream future, but at the same time her husband turned out to have cheated on her. The question is know, what is most important? 1. A job with a lot of money or 2. A happy relationship Brooks own opinion is that the relationship is the most important, as he says in text it doesn't matter how many setbacks you go through in your life, when you just have a successful relationship and the other way if you have an unhappy marriage, does career triumphs not make you happier, you will always feel unfulfilled. Brooks says that the relationship between money and wellbeing is complicated, but the correspondence between relationships and happiness is not. We gain happiness through our daily activities like: having sex, socializing, having dinner with others and so on. Brooks uses an example in the text, which says that being married produces gain equivalent to more than 100.000 dollars a year. By this example Brooks also maintain his claim about how happiness doesn't come through money and well being but instead from personal relationships...
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...are some things money just cannot buy” Unknown. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel based on the idea that money can buy a lot of things, but happiness isn't one of them. In the book Jay Gatsby has all the money he would ever need. He even throws these big, elaborate parties that nobody is really invited to but hundreds show up. Gatsby opens his home up for these strangers not because he likes partying, but because he hopes to win back his true love Daisy. Relationships break and the struggle continues in the chase for money. This book proves that money doesn't buy happiness by showing Gatsby’s struggles, Daisy’s love life issues, and Myrtle getting hit by a car while she chases Tom’s money. Gatsby’s character proves to be unhappy throughout the book. Even though he has money and anything he could ever want he can't be happy. This is because he has no love in his life, specifically Daisy. Jay has been throwing big, celebrity parties hoping for her to attend but when she finally does she did not enjoy her time there. Eventually Jay Gatsby Begins to fall for Daisy again and vice versa. They experience love, but when things get get hard with Daisy, she runs back to Tom. All Gatsby is left with is his money. In the end it leads to him being dead and sinking to the bottom...
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...As Paul McCartney and John Lennon once said: “ I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me, love.” Some people may or may not agree with this lyric, but as someone who believes that you can’t be happy with any amount of money you may have, I do agree with that lyric. I think that money does not equal happiness. In a famous teens show called Gossip Girl the majority of the characters are from the upper east side where predominantly wealthy people live. In Gossip Girl this character named Blair is very well off and always talks about how money can buy happiness you just have to know where to shop, but if you pay attention throughout the whole show, you can tell she wasn’t pleased with all she had. Blair was always an independently...
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...between wealth and happiness presented in texts 1 and 2 In the first text “The Sandra Bullock Trade” David Brooks presents his own subjective attitude towards the topic “money vs. happiness”, and Brooks is convinced that there is little or no connection between being wealthy and being happy. “Marital happiness is far more important than anything else in determining personal well-being” he says, and underpins this with the statement that if you are happily married everything else doesn’t matter, you will be reasonably happy anyway. On the other hand he claims that if you have an unsuccessful marriage you will never be truly happy. He introduces some statistics to backup his opinion showing that the relationship between happiness and income is tenuous after the point where basic necessities have been achieved. “…people are happy in their 20’s, dip in middle age and then, on average, hit peak happiness just after retirement at age 65” According to Brooks and this assertion happiness is based on age rather than on income, and he also mentions that the daily activities most associated with happiness are the ones where you socialize with others. All together he’s of the opinion that happiness does not rely on the fact that you are either wealthy or not. In text 2 the topic is seen in a different way. It’s not seen as an “either money or happiness”-situation but more by the way the money is used. According to studies of consumption people do get happier spending money, but it depends...
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...Wealth, Happiness, and the National Economy, Is There A Paradox? Question Does a healthy national economy increase the happiness of the nation’s citizens? Background America is still recovering from the greatest recession sense the Great Depression and many countries around the world are now struggling with bad economies, unemployment, and massive debt. But why are governments so concerned about the economy? Governments care because it is believed that a better national economy leads to a better quality of life for the nation’s citizens. So, governments spend billions of dollars as an attempt to help the nation’s economy grow, which should lead to a better life for the nation’s citizens. This seems like it has good intentions, but many governments borrow the money they use for this spending and that only creates new problems. In the United States, the total debt is greater than its total economic output, and this debt will only hinder future and long term growth. On top of all that, the idea that a better national economy will make the citizens happier overall contradicts the idea that money doesn’t buy happiness. Does this mean that money actually does buy happiness, or does it mean that the economy doesn’t have anything to do with people’s happiness? Some regions are poorer than the United States and yet are happier, an example is Latin America. Other richer countries, like the United States, Japan, and China have had great economic growth over the past few...
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