Is money a defining factor in happiness? Does greed outweigh happiness?

Greed does not outweigh happiness, but with this question comes individual answers.. Everyone is different. In my opinion though, Money does define happiness because It gives you just about anything you want.. Which then makes you happy, but like I said everyone is different.

 

Money is important whether you want to live as a CEO 10K/day or as a monk, living of the bare essentials.

Not enough money can make people unhappy, e.g living in poverty and not being able to support their family.

Although too much money has problems associated with it as well such as greed.

 

Yeah, money is essential, but does it bring you happiness?

 

Of course Money defines your happiness, If I ever had kids I would need money to provide for them, if I couldn't and they had to suffer because of it I'd rather kill myself so they could have a better life with the insurance money and become a Batman Type figure.

That kind of became a fucked up example closer to the end but I'll stick with it.

You need Money for everything on this Planet, people say water is free, but they still live with their parents so everything is free. Open your eyes

You need money to have a roof, provide security, create a legacy, make a cushion to fall back on, and be overall happy.

I'm not saying that poor people can't have moments where they are happy, just that it doesn't last long when you worry how you will pay the rent, feed your kid, then eventually die from starvation, cold, cancer, other illnesses, because you can't afford it.

Same goes with eating well, you need money to buy quality / healthy food, in turn food helps keep you nourished, healthy and fit, in turn leads to happiness. Fat kids usually look happy right? Imagine their chocolate covered smile if they didn't weigh 300 pounds.

 

A scenario I run into a lot with this debate is this. People ask what can money get me that I need to be happy. Generally a thing I like to answer with is traveling. Which is a VERY common answer so they are prepared for this response. They then say that on a very small amount of money I can travel and have the experiences that I crave. But what they don't understand is that the experience you get without money does not equal that you get with money. So I could couch surf the world, but that would be STRESSFUL, for me at least. Or I can get ahead and experience it in full relaxation because money is not a worry. Applies with most things in my life. So for me, money gets me the happiness. For others, couch surfing and the like may be what they want.

 

I believe that the implementation of money created a complex of surmountable standardization, that which births greed, ill incentive and inter-species competition, among other things. The fact that our contributions toward humanity are rewarded with an amount completely disregard the very essence of 'contributions toward humanity'.

Humanity as it stands is in a position where we are not growing as a collective mind and our individual lives are fueled by a system that is detrimental to the survival of the species, all for the sake of money.

I wish individually contributing toward the good of humanity was not rewarded in something that could be numerically valued.

EDIT: More towards the question,

Money has, through a spider web of different effects, turned us into a sociopath society. Our love is conditioned. Our sense of family is conditioned. The way we interact with people is conditioned. We kill millions of people every day because of a conditioning that started with each and every individual, all for the sake of money.

 

Money it's self isn't happiness, but nobody can argue that the security it provides would make you less stressed lol.

I'm always worrying about my fuckin electric n food and such, it's taken it's toll on me that's for sure lol.

 

I wouldn't say money is the only defining factor for happiness, but it definitely helps!

 

Having money is a contributing factor to happiness, as it leads to a comfortable life, one less worry or stress to get in the way.

Family, even more important to happiness.

But IMO, money alone is not happiness.

 

updated title as op has updated the op

 

I think having money allows you to do many more things in life that can lead to happiness, however that definitely does not mean you can't be happy w.o money.

 

In my opinion, you can't put it that way. Understandably yes, most of us are born fortunately enough to live with much more than we need and we do nothing for less fortunate rather than using the internet, playing games. If you put it that way then everybody is pretty much considered selfish. For example, why are we eating till we are bloated af when we can eat just a little and give the rest to the homeless guy on the street? Of course nobody thinks of it that way. We do what we must to support ourselves first before we can think that far ahead about others. Lots of people probably do what they can to support their loved ones too. So it's not exactly fair to pressurize people by saying we are defined as greedy.

Money is a necessity in our era. And I'm sorry to say this but the majority of us are not classified as "filthy rich" so we can't think about the less fortunate yet. I understand that they are probably suffering while we are building our net worth, but that's just the cards we've all been dealt with. Both sides are doing their best to support themselves.

But if I were a millionaire or even hundredth-thousandaire (probably not real terminology lol), then I certainly would be contributing towards people less fortunate than I. And I'm sure a vast number of people would do the same.

Just my opinion.

 

simple one.


you're sitting at your computer typing in this thread.

suddenly a genie appears next to you and drops a duffelbag full of a million dollars.

all of your current predicaments vanish. you jump in joy, immediately go buy a ferrari, maybe pay off your house or just build a new one on a new property. perhaps you'll take a trip to Fiji, or any other highly desirable location, all the while you're experiencing peak happiness, knowing all of your worries and anxieties are gone, and the days to come are full of bliss.

of course greed comes along, and greed is very bad, because it intrudes on others.

so yeah, it is a defining factor, its just not a permanent solution. the only endgame with happiness is love.

 

>peak happiness

I wouldn't go that far. Sure, my happiness level would certainly go up if I received $1,000,000... but it wouldn't peak. Nothing material can ever provide the experience of true, unbridled joy and happiness. That is something that is derived from the intangibles of human life: Love, Friendships, Adventuring, Meditation, Union with Spirit...

Considering all the real problems in my life, I think about 10% of them would be solved through money. So I think you can easily make the argument money is certainly not a defining factor in happiness, rather it is a consoling one. If that makes sense.

 

"They say money is the root of all evil
I see money as the route of all people
Cause we all follow paper trails, paper trails" - Joey Bada$$

 

I would like to think happiness could have been achieved without pitting humans against humans at some point in the matrix. Money is one pillar in the system that breeds evil. It's not the only one, but it is one.

 

I think money can buy happiness to a physical extent, such as buying a sweet new car. However, emotionally, I highly doubt money would help in that area. Sure you could buy prostitutes and live like a rock star, but that lifestyle would get stale in time.

 

Money is definitely a factor of happiness. I would be a lot more happy if I had all of the things that came with being rich

 

Of course it's a factor, but the subject of discussion is whether or not it is a defining factor(re: Do you need money to be happy?) I'm certain most people would enjoy being rich but as Flustered pointed out above you it leaves gaping holes in emotional and spiritual fulfillment of the individual.

 

Yes, I believe that money is quite a defining factor in happiness, but there are also a lot of things to consider in order to be happy like family, relationships, etc.