Can Money buy happiness?

Imperator Severn · Post by **Imperator Severn** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 1:48 am

Do you think musicians hate their jobs? Or maybe authors or astronauts or professional athletes?

CyberEd · Post by **CyberEd** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 11:19 am

I don't think they do, I know they do...

everyone has these times when they don't see a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

I used to be a professional athlete and I tell you - they HATE it the most. there's nothing more depressing than training. it's monotonous sisyphic work (winning in the end makes it all worth while - but 90% of the time it's boring).
it's the same case with musicians. a day-to-day routine is exhausting and they too enjoy their job about 10% of the time.

hell, ask greg if he enjoys doing the comic all the time - and it's still a hobby for him (as I gather from the rants)

anything you do for a long period of time will get to you. what I mean is you should enjoy what you can - if it's 10% of your job you enjoy, don't forget to enjoy that.
and don't forget there's more to life than just a work.
do a little test if you will (I already did it):
buy one of these low-cost disposable camera's and just keep it in your briefcase.
whenever you see something that makes you smile take a picture of it - whether it be the moon setting late in the blue sky, the clouds colored red in the sunset, a small kitty, a funny bumpersticker, anything.
after about 2 months you'll run out of photoes - then develop the film.
you'll see a bunch of insignificant photoes, if you show it to anyone they'll shrug and won't understand. but it would still make you smile.
those objects in the photoes are not something money can buy...

Deacon · Post by **Deacon** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 3:05 pm

EDIT: Removed hilarious comment that, after looking back on it, I decided was immature and inappropriate, hilarious though it may have been.

CyberEd · Post by **CyberEd** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 4:37 pm

deacon - you can't say "I have a funny joke" and not tell it !
that sort of stuff kills conversations

Imperator Severn · Post by **Imperator Severn** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 4:40 pm

But you need a camera and film to create said photograhs. That's something money can buy.

Of course you aren't going to be in extacy every moment of your life, but a good job means you will be happy with it on a whole and it will be enjyoyable often. You suggest that musicians enjoy their job 10% of the time. I ask you to guess how often I enjoyed painting, or plastering, or clearing land. How often I sat back and thought how awesome those jobs really were. They were a source of income, and that is all. For a job that anyone with arms can do, you can't expect enjoyment. You have to do something really special to have fun.

CyberEd · Post by **CyberEd** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 4:55 pm

But you need a camera and film to create said photograhs. That's something money can buy.

you missed the point, it's not the photoes that make you happy... it's what you're shooting...

Of course you aren't going to be in extacy every moment of your life, ... ect

I agree with that paragraph.
I'm just saying we shouldn't be looking for happyness in the large things money can buy, little everyday things can be enough...

Imperator Severn · Post by **Imperator Severn** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 5:31 pm

Ecstasy. Damn it.

Let me put it to you this way: can not having money make you unhappy?

More to the point, can the absense of any kid of material wealth make you unhappy?

Triviarre · Post by **Triviarre** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 11:41 pm

I voted yes, but for the reasons previously stated.

Money can not buy the emotion of happiness, but it can buy material things that can lead to you feeling that emotion. With that said, money does buy happiness, but indirectly. Still, semantics states that it does.

I would have to say that anyone, no matter how godly they think they are, would most likely be happier when in the midst of more material possesions than none.

CyberEd · Post by **CyberEd** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 12:02 am

here's a secret for you:
everyone wants what he can't have.
show me a man who's got ALL he wants... material or none
there'll always be some way to make our lives better (just as life can always be worse...) question is - will money fill the gaps ?

at the end of the day you must ask yourself what it is you WANT, what it is you NEED, and what do you already HAVE
what would really make you happy ?

think about a happy childhood: I know many ritch people who buy their kids anything they want, the kid wants it - his parents get it. does that necessarily
make him a happy child ?

as I said there's more to life than money

Triviarre · Post by **Triviarre** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 12:20 am

Material posessions make someone happy when the items hold some type of value toward the person. This value can be sentimental, dependancy, etc. The value varies per person, however what I said is still true.

Look at it this way: In today's world, you need some form of currency to get by in life. This, in and of itself, does not guarantee happiness. It is up to you to decide if you are happy with what you have. However, if someone has nothing, are they happy? I doubt it. They may be content with having little, but I doubt they'd be happy with nothing. They wouldn't survive without anything.

Everyone always wants more, this much is true. This does not mean that their happiness is not dependant on what they have, however.

Would you be able to say that happiness is entirely independant from material posessions(i.e. food, clothing, shelter, pets, etc.)?

SothThe69th · Post by **SothThe69th** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 12:30 am

CyberEd- How old are you, and do you have a job? If you still live with parents and have a job, is this a job that you got to help them or to get money for yourself for stuff? If you're out in the world, are you employed? If you aren't employed and have never had a job and haven't left home yet, please leave this thread and go get a job and move out, then come back to this thread in a year and we'll continue.

Now then, presuming you have a job, and presuming it's full time, I'll continue.

That's 40 hours a week for, lets say, 30 years. That would get you to about retirement age, more or less. Maybe 40 years, but I'm not going to stress the issue. 40 (hours per week) x 50 (week you work (presuming a generous 2 week vacation per year) = 2080 x 30 (Years till retirement) = 60000 / 24 (Hours in a day = 2500 / 365 (days in a year.) = About 7 years.

Okay, so with that in mind, money would buy me 7 years of life that I would otherwise lose to a unenjoyable job.

I'm an atheist, so as far as I'm concerned, when I die, I'm dead. Nothing happens. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars. Getting those 7 years back would make me immensely happy, and allow me to do all the things that make me happy.

Like has been said all throughout this thread Ed- It isn't the money itself that makes you happy. It's the fact that you don't have to get up at 7 to get ready for your 9 to 5 job. The fact that you don't have to worry about coming up with the rent money each month. The fact that you don't have to think twice about getting a pizza delivered because money is tight this month.

So yes, there is more to life than money, but wouldn't you agree that if you could wake up at noon every day and go shoot the breeze, take pictures, or play games, and not have to worry about where your next cash infusion is coming from, that you'd be a lot happier?

Angie · Post by **Angie** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 12:40 am

Things that money could buy to make me happy:
A new truck
A harley
A four wheeler
A house
The ability to travel at will
A few renovations to the store.

Essentially you need to spend money to make money, I'd continue to work, as work is one of those things that makes me truly happy, but my work environment could use a few improvements.

Besides, for me, happiness has always been roaring down the highway to who knows where. Money would be able to provide me with fewer worries as to where to stay and what I could afford to do. It could also provide me with some secksay wheels.

Posted Sun Sep 26, 2004 8:48 pm:

Addition after reading CyberEd's longwinded nothings a little more closely:

I used to ride horses professionally, I was training in and out of the saddle for about 7 hours a day. There wasn't a MINUTE I didn't love what I was doing. And don't even think about calling horseback riders quasi-athletes, it takes a lot more diverse physical abilities to navigate a 1200lb animal through a series of tests in three days. Athleticism, endurance and mental toughness are prerequisites.

Not a single person competing against me at that level disliked what they did. We were ALL in it for the love of the sport.

Rembrandt Q. Einstein · Post by **Rembrandt Q. Einstein** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 1:49 am

Money doesn't buy happiness, it facilitates it. Like Angie said, you need money to be able to do what you want to do, but money does not directly buy your happiness. For instance, I think my ideal (reasonable) situation would be to own a small retaurant/bar where I do minimal managemet/upkeep and just work as a bartender, along with a happy family and a nice house. Nothing fancy or flashy, just a nice, comfortable life. Money would make that all possible, but I don't feel that money would be what's making me happy. It'd be nice to be able to afford to send my kids to college, that would make me happy, and most likely it would make them happy, but I don't feel that money would be what's making me happy.

CyberEd · Post by **CyberEd** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 2:57 am

CyberEd- How old are you, and do you have a job? If you still live with parents and have a job, is this a job that you got to help them or to get money for yourself for stuff? If you're out in the world, are you employed? If you aren't employed and have never had a job and haven't left home yet, please leave this thread and go get a job and move out, then come back to this thread in a year and we'll continue.

I am currrently a student working at entry level jobs, I just got released a year ago and pretty much pennyless so yes, I still live with me parents. I use the money I earn to pay my tuition and I save a wee out so I could get out of the house when I get my degree.

I'm not saying you can go by in this world without money. however I HAVE been in a situation where I worked 24 (yup 24) hours a day 12 days in a row (in the good case scenario, once in a while it mounted up to 28, once even 35 days) earning nothing more than the clothes I was wearing the food I was eating and less than a queter a penny an hour as "spending money"
all in all it was about $50 a month.
90% of that went on phone bills and extra food.
that was a crappy job, no one ASKED me if I wated to do it, I got bossed around and I hated what I was doing.
was I unhappy - yes, at times. was it because of lack of anything material - no.
I learned that in order to remain sane you have to enjoy whatever it is you already have.

now I'm not saying one can go by without any money - no. obviously any man would need SOME money to eat.
that is not my point.

the point is there's more to aspire in life than money.
people tend to take their freedom for granted, to take little things for granted - to take living for granted.
ROE for example has a very ncie dream - and money could help achieve that goal - but if he wins the lottory tomorrow that might help him with less than half of it...

and don't forget that "the more money you come across the more problems you see"
taxes and insurances... all the bureaucracy nearly made me enlist again...

Deacon · Post by **Deacon** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 3:11 am

[quote="CyberEd";p="401748"]I'm not saying you can go by in this world without money. however I HAVE been in a situation where I worked 24 (yup 24) hours a day 12 days in a row (in the good case scenario, once in a while it mounted up to 28, once even 35 days) earning nothing more than the clothes I was wearing the food I was eating and less than a queter a penny an hour as "spending money"
all in all it was about $50 a month.
90% of that went on phone bills and extra food.
that was a crappy job, no one ASKED me if I wated to do it, I got bossed around and I hated what I was doing.
was I unhappy - yes, at times. was it because of lack of anything material - no.
I learned that in order to remain sane you have to enjoy whatever it is you already have.[/quote]
Yeah, prison can be a bitch :/

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