“Does money bring happiness?”
Lokshana Groodoyal social responsibility Research topic: “Does money bring happiness?” – March 4th, 2021
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Firstly, “What is money?” well it is 6.0 x 2.75 inches plastic bills and a bunch of coins. They have recognized mediums of exchange and means of payment. And it is one of the hardest things to easily have control on because in order to get it you need to commit a chunk of your time and working. Money is worldwide! It is number 1 on the most popular list.
But what is used for? It is used for various things such as fulfilling our basic needs. For instance, the need for food, shelters, bills, fees, clothing, basically everything. It brings immediate satisfaction such as buying a new pair of shoes, a beautiful new phone or wonderful books to read. However, it can also help with saving lives such as curing an illness or simply raise a family. There’s one important factor that comes to mind when I think of money and that’s “Sharing”. As most of you know, “sharing is caring” well similarly money is used as donations to charities or sharing with people who are in great need of money. [1]
However, similar to almost everything in the world, money also has its advantages and disadvantages as follows…
Advantages of Money:
- you have the status of a “rich” person
- can buy most of the material things in the world
- hire multiple servants to take care of you and live the life of a king
- won’t face basic problems of life such as food, water, shelter, clothing and so on.
- purchase all items for your comfort such as a house, Air-conditioners, TV, and so on.
Disadvantages of Money: [2]
- cut off from near and dear ones
- lose peace of mind because all you have in mind is to become richer
- start to cheat and manipulate things so as to save money illegally (or legally, it depends)
- lose touch with reality (because the more you have of something the less value it has to you)
- boredom ( the prospect of not having to work overtime or extra jobs)
- less empathetic to “the plight of others”
- fake friends;/ affection ( you get friend/partner only because of your money)
- lead to disagreement (in relationships)- you or your partner/family members don’t agree on what should be done with the money
Overall, money is extremely important for instant happiness, which can often something big for several others. However, money comes with its advantages such as, living a comfortable lifestyle, obtain a certain status, fulfil basic needs, etc… on the other hand, the disadvantages such as separation of family & friends, encourage boredom, and lead to disagreement, which in fact proven that “money is one of the leading causes of divorces” for couples [3].
However, is happiness successful with money? is there happiness with or without money? …. well stay tuned for the upcoming posts 🙂
Reliable sources:
- The Importance Of Money In Your Life (financiallyindependenttoday.com)
- Top 10 Surprising Disadvantages Of Being Rich – Listverse
- Why Money Is Important: Benefits & Downsides | LendEDU
Lokshana Groodoyal social responsibility Research topic: “Does money bring happiness?” – March 4th, 2021
Hi Lokshana,
Very interesting post! I’ve never seen anyone try to define money. It was interesting to see this new definition. I think you did a very nice job, and you thought creatively.
Hi Nikki,
Thank you for your feedback! Yes, it was a little odd describing money since I never considered doing it before.
_LOkshana 🙂
Hi Lokshana,
Your topic is pretty interesting! I have definitely asked this question before. I’m quick to think it’s easy to list the advantages of having an abundance of money but I’m glad you were able to think of disadvantages to show that too much of anything can be bad. Although your disadvantages are valid, I think you should consider if the cons you are mentioning pertain to people with enough money or people with too much money. It would be great if you could clear that up! Also, you wrote about how people who are rich could lose their minds by only thinking about how to get even richer. Maybe you could explore if that is an addiction because It sure does sound like one. That could help the “disadvantage” side of the money argument.
Great job!
Shieva Mokhtarnameh
Hi Lokshana,
Your topic is pretty interesting! I have definitely asked this question before. I’m quick to think it’s easy to list the advantages of having an abundance of money but I’m glad you were able to think of disadvantages to show that too much of anything can be bad. Although your disadvantages are valid, I think you should consider if the cons you are mentioning pertain to people with enough money or people with too much money. It would be great if you could clear that up! Also, you wrote about how people who are rich could lose their minds by only thinking about how to get even richer. Maybe you could explore if that is an addiction because It sure does sound like one. That could help the “disadvantage” side of the money argument.
Here are some links that might help
https://www.cnbc.com/2014/02/05/is-wealth-accumulation-an-addiction-occupy-wall-street-bonuses-inequality.html
https://www.inc.com/kimberly-weisul/how-money-addiction-can-happen-to-anyone.html
https://www.rehabs.com/pro-talk/the-psychology-of-wealth-power-and-celebrity/
Great job!
Shieva Mokhtarnameh
Hi Shieva!
Thank you for your feedback! I will definitely take your ideas into consideration.
-Lokshana 🙂
Hi Lokshana(you have a beautiful name)
I love the way you’ve described money and outlined its negatives and positives.
Looking forward to your future entries mostly on the part where if happiness can be achieved with/without money.
Great job
Hi there,
Thank you so much for your feedback! 🙂
-Lokshana
Hey Lokshana! I really enjoyed reading your post, super interesting stuff! I never really thought about the fact that lots of money has so many downsides. While being rich is still likely better than being poor, loosing touch with reality, as well as your friends, is definitely not somethings I want to experience. To be completely honest, if I could choose, I would probably want to be an upper middle class individual. This allows for the purchase of expensive items, such as houses and cars, but does not place you in the echelon of absolutely fake friends and loss of connection with reality. What class would you like to be in if you could choose?
Some links that might be helpful are:
https://wealthyaccountant.com/2017/05/26/losing-touch-with-reality/
https://hbr.org/2014/05/can-you-be-too-rich
https://www.fool.com/retirement/2019/07/28/15-downsides-to-being-rich.aspx
Hi Victor,
Thank you for your feedback! To answer your question, I would have chosen something in between being rich and poor. Similar to what you chose but the way I look at it is somewhat different. I chose upper-middle-class individuals because a) I can’t imagine my life with absolutely no money since and b) similar to your thought about losing connection to reality and friends/family. Another thing is, if I was born where I had no money at all then I think my choice would have been different because I was able to choose middle because I’ve experienced both kinds of life. For example, if I was born with no money I would’ve hoped to be super rich, whereas now I have the knowledge of both sides. so that’s why I would have chosen upper Middle-class individuals too.
*I hope that made sense 🙂 *
Hello Lokshanna!
Your post was very fascinating indeed. I agree that money is very essential to our lives. Although it can provide us with basic needs and luxury, I also agree that there are many downsides of money. It seems like that our main goal and first priority is to gain the skills to earn money. Having a lot of money could also lead to greedy friends and robbery.
I have a question for you:
Do you think that it is better to earn money and depend on society to live? Or be independent and learn the skills we need in order to survive ourselves such as farming and fishing? (like the life of tribes that live in the wilderness)
Hey Lokshana,
This is a really good question, and I look forward to reading more of your posts! The lists had a lot of pros and cons I had never thought of before, and all the information was explained very well.
Here’s a source that might help with your research:
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/hbr.org/amp/2020/09/does-more-money-really-makes-us-more-happy
Hi Saachi,
thank you for the source! I will definitely take a look at it. 🙂
Hi lokshana, I really enjoyed reading your post. I think that many people rely on money for many things. I think that both the advantages and disadvantages are both true. I agree with you that money is extremely important for happiness. Looking forward to learn more.
Thank you for your feedback, Hannah! 🙂