Money and Happiness
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- Category: Politics
- Date Submitted: 12/13/2010 04:59 PM
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Travis Ray
Mrs. M. Arenson
English 110
3 December, 2010
Can Money Buy Happiness?
A quick stroll down the hallway of any public school reveals where happiness truly lays, money. Sadness and anguish can be seen on the faces of students who cannot be considered upper class because of their family income. Never is the class system more prevalent than in the classroom. Children and young adults may range in ages, but they all have to have the latest in high tech gear and high price fashion. Without this they may be humiliated by the repressive bullying that inhabits the hallways. The influences for this fashion and high price living comes from the entertainment industry. Everyday a famous actor or actress graces the TV with their magnificent presence of the latest fashion and expensive technology on the market. Absolute happiness is hard to find, but in the minds of many Americans having money is happiness. Money doesn’t buy happiness, but more exclusively money buys contentment.
Some people compare contentment to happiness. They are two very similar feelings. Encarta Dictionary defines contentment as “the state of being satisfied with a person’s current state of being.”(Encarta) This means that contentment is a smaller form of happiness, more of happiness within a short period of time. Happiness, however, is “the sum of all events within a person’s life,” a sense of personal accomplishment (Encarta). Happiness is impossible to purchase no matter how much money a person has. Contentment on the other hand is quite easy to buy with any sum of money. Daniel Tosh, comedian, has supported this opinion with a famous joke he has about money and happiness. “They say money can’t buy happiness… Have you ever seen a person on a wave runner frowning? I don’t think so,” jokes Tosh. However funny this quote may be, it is true in the sense that right now while enjoying something that person spent his or her hard money on he or she is happy. Then the bills pile up and that...
Mrs. M. Arenson
English 110
3 December, 2010
Can Money Buy Happiness?
A quick stroll down the hallway of any public school reveals where happiness truly lays, money. Sadness and anguish can be seen on the faces of students who cannot be considered upper class because of their family income. Never is the class system more prevalent than in the classroom. Children and young adults may range in ages, but they all have to have the latest in high tech gear and high price fashion. Without this they may be humiliated by the repressive bullying that inhabits the hallways. The influences for this fashion and high price living comes from the entertainment industry. Everyday a famous actor or actress graces the TV with their magnificent presence of the latest fashion and expensive technology on the market. Absolute happiness is hard to find, but in the minds of many Americans having money is happiness. Money doesn’t buy happiness, but more exclusively money buys contentment.
Some people compare contentment to happiness. They are two very similar feelings. Encarta Dictionary defines contentment as “the state of being satisfied with a person’s current state of being.”(Encarta) This means that contentment is a smaller form of happiness, more of happiness within a short period of time. Happiness, however, is “the sum of all events within a person’s life,” a sense of personal accomplishment (Encarta). Happiness is impossible to purchase no matter how much money a person has. Contentment on the other hand is quite easy to buy with any sum of money. Daniel Tosh, comedian, has supported this opinion with a famous joke he has about money and happiness. “They say money can’t buy happiness… Have you ever seen a person on a wave runner frowning? I don’t think so,” jokes Tosh. However funny this quote may be, it is true in the sense that right now while enjoying something that person spent his or her hard money on he or she is happy. Then the bills pile up and that...