Ricki Herrera
Professor Kufs
English 114B
23 February 2016
Does Money Really Make You Happy?
The word “happiness”, as employed by such
psychologist as David G. Meyers is, in the end, too vague to be of much use in
determining the real effects of money. Thankfully the authors of “Lethal
Consumption” avoid the “Happiness” trap. I agree with the statement because the
word happiness is not defined enough for it to have any effect. Money can definitely
help you achieve your goals, provide for your future and make life more
enjoyable, but having this stuff will not promise one satisfaction. Happiness is
to vague of a word to determine the real effects that money has on people.
Many people believe that money
makes everything better, and if you have money your life will be easy and happy
all the time. Although, money does make life less stressful for some people, it
is not always a good thing. David G.
Meyers states in "The Funds, Friends, and Faith of Happy People",
that happiness does not fully show the effects of money well. Having a lot of
money will not mean that you have everything you want in the world; you may get
the materialistic things covered but the emotional things such as love and
family might be harder to obtain. A person can have very little money and be happier
than a person who is really wealthy.
According to PsychologyToday.com, it states, “90% of people earning at least
250,000 dollars call themselves very happy, while just 42% of those earning
under 30,000 dollars say they are happy.” This statistic shows that even the
people who do not make that much money is still happier with their lives just
as the wealthy people are. However,
having money can make life easier, it can not buy you happiness. You can still
be happy without having a lot of money; focusing to hard on the money can cause
negative outcomes such as health, mental, and marital status problems.
One of the biggest causes of stress in
today’s society is the one thing most people treasure the most, money. Money
stress happens to almost everybody. Every single day things get more and more
expensive; minimum wage goes up, gas prices go up, houses prices go up, and so
much more. It is sometimes hard to keep up with society when everyone wants the
latest things to fit in, and that puts stress on everything else. People try
and work so hard to make the most money that they can to live what they so call
it, “The Good life”. In the article, “The Good Life”, Roper Center University
created a survey which showed that back in the day people were not as
materialistic as they are now. Now people think that “The Good Life” is having
a second television in your home, or traveling abroad. Some couples will spend
their entire marriage or relationship stressed out about making enough money so
they can have all the good and high end stuff. On the other hand, most people
are content with the money they make and they work with it, because they are
not stressing out so much about trying to meet these standards that people are
trying to set. According to CBSNews.com
it states, “Three out four parents and adults younger than 50 said money is somewhat
or very a significant source of stress.” This research describes that money is
sometimes a really big problem, and can even cause problems in a family. I feel
if people are too focused on the money they will never find true happiness in
life.
Money can make people happy, but having a
lot of money does not mean that your life will be easier than a poor person’s
life. People who have a lot of money can still have very hard lives. The more
money that one makes, the more it gets to their head and gets to them mentally.
When making more money, you are going to want to spend it and buy all the
latest stuff to fit in. Having cash can turn a person into someone who only
focuses on the material things in life. Money becomes too much pressure when
you have more than what you know what to do with. In "The Funds, Friends,
and Faith of Happy People", David G. Meyers makes a reference to Titanic.
He talks about how in this movie passengers could not escape death just because
they were wealthier than the other passengers. This is the same thing in
today’s world, just because a person has a lot of money does not mean they are
going to get everything they want, life just does not work that way. Also,
according to David G. Meyers, he states, “Even very rich people – the Forbes
100 wealthiest Americans surveyed by Diener, Horwitz, and Emmons (1985) – are
only slightly happier than the average American.” This describes that people with less money
can be happier than rich people because they do not have all the extra pressures
and stress of having a lot of money.
Money does not buy happiness for people.
Some may think that it does, but it is not real happiness. According to The HuffingtonPost.com, “Money may be a
more effective tool for reducing sadness than enhancing happiness.” This quote
describes that people are mistaking having money for happiness. Money does
reduce sadness because we need money to have a roof over our heads and to eat.
Money can buy you all the materialistic things in the world, but it can not buy
you emotions. One may have a lot of money but they may not have someone to
love. Money can not buy you love, so what’s the point of having all this money?
All this depends on the person and their personality, some people think that
they do not need love, but when it comes down to it and they are looking for it,
they will not have it because all they cared about was the money. People who do
not have that much money are very happy with their lives because they have
everything else, like love and family. Money will not get you all the happiness
that you need and want.
Does money really make everything better?
Money will make you less sad but it will not make you happier. Money comes with
a lot of bad affects to it. It causes a lot of stress, which can lead to health
problems and family problems. Just because one has a lot of money does not mean
that they have everything they want. If all you have is money and that’s all
you care about, you are not going to be happy. There are so many other things
that are more important than money. There are many people in this world who are
very happy with having little money because they have everything else they
could ask for, like family and love. People look at life in different ways, but
I believe that happiness is to vague of a word to determine the real effects
that money has on people. You need money to live, but you do not need a lot of
money to be happy, one should always stay humble in life because if you are not
it can make living life a very stressful event.
Works Cited
"The Biggest Cause of Stress in
America Today." CBSNews. CBS
Interactive, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
Gregoire, Carolyn. "Money Can Make
You Less Sad, But Not More Happy." The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
"Money Does Make You Happy... at
Least Some of the Time." Psychology
Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
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