Money and Material Things: Pursuit of Happiness
(Pro-Materialism)
Many people around the globe are striving throughout their life towards one goal, happiness (Buss, 2000). The world today has become a world for materialism. People’s lives are governed by material wants and needs. And it is through material possessions that people are able to attain happiness.
Materialism has driven individuals towards the path of making more money. Of course people want to afford life’s pleasures. People are hooked by the luxurious living that is in trend right now. It is right to study and work hard to earn money and enjoy everything life has to offer. Money makes the world go round, without money how will life go on? In the society today no one can find something
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People purchase materialistic goods that satisfy their desires. Materialism leads to satisfaction. Money, nowadays, is an immediate need. How will people survive if they do not have money to spend? People buy luxury goods, delicious food, designer shoes and clothes, latest gadgets, and even they invest into new cars and houses, simply because these bring them happiness. Being materialistic is something good. Spending money to buy things desired is one good point – buying designer bags and shoes, branded make-ups and clothes and even the latest trend of gadgets. Another thing is spending money to take good care of one’s body – spending money to have a work out in a gym, buying medicinal and beauty products to help look healthy, fit, and young. Experiences are hard to compare. Happiness comes with money. Spend money to travel around the globe. The world is beautiful and if traveling unravels the beauty who would ever mind spending lots of
We have all been guilty of wanting more, when we already have plenty. Whether it’s another piece of cake, a fourth pair of converse, or a few extra phone covers, we don’t consciously think about everything we’ve accumulated in the short span of our lives. Instead, we think ‘why not?’ and add it into our collection of stuff. But does buying more, owning more, and having more, necessarily guarantee happiness?
“Money can’t buy happiness.” “Money isn’t everything, its just paper.” Anyone who has ever grown up without money and lamented about it has heard these kinds of phrases many times. In looking around our culture and society today it would be hard to say those statements are true. While everyone has problems, rich and poor alike, having money gives you access to more solutions to those problems.
I have had an experience myself when I thought that money could change everything. I had thought that maybe if I had more money I could have a lot of things that I wanted that I thought would make me happy. Just like Daisy, she thought that she can be happy with all of these materialistic items that Tom was buying her. Now people seem to think that the only way they can be happy is if they have a lot of money. Materialistic things only last for so long before you might get bored with it or it is no longer useful to you.
Notably a lot of are behavior for shiny new objects is fueled from what is seen in everyday existence. The extravagant life style of the upper class which is on constant display across many media broadcasting outlets around the world for everyone to see and desire. Prompting individuals impulsive reaction to make purchases for what they see; even though they know otherwise they can not afford it. The textbook gives numerous accounts to why America has become a nation of mass consumption and what triggers people impulse to spend in relation to material possession and the American Dream.
William Hazlitt composed his passaged, “On the Want of Money” to express that “one cannot get on well in the world without money”. Although many believe money is not necessary to be happy Hazlitt provides his audience with a substantial argument that money is needed to live happily. Within Hazlitt’s sharp excerpt, he uses several different rhetorical strategies to strengthen his argument and express his views on the importance of money. Money in fact, is very important to each person since in today’s world, money is used for everything. The problem is occurring is it is almost impossible to not desire or need money in our society.
It should not be about buying a house, car, boat, etc. Why materialism made a sudden leap in this era, I would think the media has something to do with that. It’s understandable to work up to those additions, but they should not just be the “goal” that one works up for! Somewhere along the way, the pursuit of pleasure started taking hold of the dream. Life should not be shallow.
Brave new world - Essay I look at this from a utilitarian perspective were the moral thing is to do the most good for the most amount of people. The individual, while important in any sense, is only relevant in terms of the community as a whole. It is very similar to the question of individual versus collective happiness. The happiness of the most amount of people is better than letting the individual decide for oneself.
The common moral of many well known stories is that money doesn 't not equate to happiness. You can live life without money and yet maintain a blissful life. In "On the want of money" however, an essay written by William Hazlitt, the author outright denounces this cliche idea and points to money as a key ingredient to a prosperous life. He claims that money is one 's life line to success in this materialistic world as without it, you will be subjected to the constraints of poverty and it 's harsh effects. Hazlitt builds on his argument of the necessity of money through his use of powerful diction,clever syntax through long repetition,logos, and an assertive tone.
One study revealed that money was an essential need for happiness, but it was not what made the people happy. They established satisfaction in close relationships with loved ones, community work, fulfillment and pride from their work and accomplishments (Diener and Biswas-Diener 162). The highest life satisfaction was found in societies of wealthy nation while the unhappiest nations were the extremely poor ones. When it comes to materialism, it does not matter if someone is rich or poor, all that matters is that “your income is sufficient to your desire,” and that “differences in aspirations lead to very different amounts of happiness” (Diener and Biswas-Diener 170).
Throughout the course of one’s life, there is a constant search for some form of happiness. We may not always realize we are on the quest for it, but it’s part of human nature. In “Silver Linings Playbook” we see this happen throughout with Pat and Tiffany, who are both searching for happiness. The film is relatable to us all in that many times we go looking for happiness only to come up empty-handed.
Can money bring you happiness: many Americans believe that having lots of money can bring happiness? However one writer, Gregg Easterbrook, in his article, “The Real Truth about Money,” promotes that having a lot of money in your pocket doesn’t bring happiness in this world. He writes this article to persuade his audience that money doesn’t bring happiness. Easterbrook begins building his credibility with personal facts and reputable sources, citing convincing facts and statistics, and successfully employing Logical appeals; however, toward the end of the article, he attempts to appeal to readers’ emotions weaken his credibility and ultimately, his argument. In his article, Easterbrook starts his article by showing people how life has changed since the World War II and the Depression eras of life, and then he outlines that people that people spend lots of their time trying to keep up with the norms of life and draws the comparison that people who have higher income have depression or unhappy with themselves.
The American society is a materialistic system, causing self-destruction, depression, and health problems. Materialism means placing a higher value on objects. This has usually considered objects, which has more value than experiences, personal relationships and beliefs. In American society, people have been trained to think that; they are “required” to have more material things in order to be happy. According to Tim Kasser, “The more materialistic
What happens when people have money but no time? They will end up spending most of that money to satiate their hunger for satisfaction. Most of the time, people resort to mall shopping and buying things that do not have real value to them, just to keep up with everyone else.
Aside from using money for basic needs, money can also buy happiness by allowing one to buy time, live life to the fullest, and live freely without having to worries. First of all, money can buy you time, time is definite and stubborn, meaning that time time is constantly moving forwards and does not stop for anything. There is only so much of it, and no matter how long we complain about not having enough, it will never give us a 25 hour day even when we turn in our request for more time to finish a project before the deadline. According to an article in the Time magazine Dan Gilbert, Harvard University psychology professor said, “ Use your money to buy moments and not stuff, the key is to spend your money on experiences and not material things. Memories of people, places and activities, however, never get old.”
ROLE OF MONEY IN MACROECONOMICS 1. Introduction Money can be seen as the medium of exchange which is acceptable while transaction is being undertaken between two parties. Some of the common forms of money are: - Commodity money: This is when the value of the good represents its value in terms of money like gold or silver. - Fiat money: This is when the value of the good is less than the value it represents - Bank money: It is the accounting credits that can be used by the depositor Money serves a variety of crucial functions in the economy and this is why it has gained an unparalleled influence in the matters of economy at micro as well as macro levels. Some of the features of money that make it so important for any economy are as follows: