Lokshana Groodoyal social responsibility Research topic: “Does money bring happiness?” – April 22nd, 2021
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The issue of accelerating drift between the rich and the poor is pressing because it’s directly proportional to the amount of rich and poor people in society for several decades now. this is astonishing because the numbers are on the increase as time progresses. Typically, the inequality between the rich and the poor exists in terms of the accumulated wealth of an individual or a group in society. Also, the disparity can be realized between countries whereby one country is endowed with too many resources which it is able to tap boost the economy especially the developed countries. On the other end, the developing countries ail in poverty because of economic struggle and lack of adequate resources. Therefore, the disparity is a prevalent issue that has been in existence and will exist. The increasing gap 
between the rich and the poor is a global problem that almost all the presidents of big nations have still not found its cure. in addition, to make matters worse, this is a universal problem that cuts across both the developed and the developing countries [2] [3]. Therefore, the gap between the rich and poor in today’s society is increasing more than ever. Inequality in nations/countries obviously affects the poverty-stricken
population more than the richer population, affecting every aspect of their lifestyle. Income may be a major aspect that causes inequality because, the maximum amount as we’d wish to think money can’t buy happiness, it can purchase food, housing, education and healthcare; all things that affect the general wellbeing of people. (Is that everything that brings happiness?)
Moving on, with growing industrialization and globalization, this gap is increasing at a fast pace and has become quite substantial. There are many reasons for this economic equality are…
- increasing inequality in wages,
- gender discrimination,
- ethnic discrimination,
- globalization,
- technology changes,
- taxes,
- education,
- culture policy reform,
- nepotism, etc…
Differences between the rich and the poor:
- Rich people attempt to create a specific life for themselves; Poor people believe they have no control
- wealthy people dream much bigger: I told a friend of mine (who is not completely poor, but not completely rich either), that I want to be a millionaire and instead of encouraging me she said ” Who needs that much money. You can live a great life with a lot less than a million dollars.”
- the rich play to win, and the poor play not to lose. (The rich are quite bold and are always searching for a way to win when money is involved. The poor are too busy worrying about preserving what little they have. They never give themselves the chance to become wealthy.)
- opportunities vs. obstacles: those who are wealthy tend to focus on the opportunities and then simply deal with the obstacles as they arise along the way. The poor have a habit of focusing on all the obstacles.
Despite all that, “Variety is the spice of life”. Well God didn’t create people equally, by that I mean, He didn’t give them the same level and social class. Some strive to be rich and work hard to accomplish their goals, and some go through hardships to have what they want in life. Some live a life of needy and poverty, and some live a life of luxury and opulence. Some live life of thrifty and some live a life of lavishness. Some sleep on cold floors and some sleep on a bed of roses. Lastly, both rich and poor are differ in social status, income, and overall life’s great opportunities.
That’s it for the comparison of the rich and the poor :). I hope you’ve got a better understanding of the life of both poor and rich and have learned something new. After learning so much, I still wonder…is happiness then defined as what puts a smile on our face, is it a sense of excitement, peace, a state of being or MONEY? Well, stay tuned for upcoming posts for the answer if money is real happiness.
References:
- https://youtu.be/G_e7eFSkEjw
- Gap between rich and poor ‘keeps growing’ – BBC News
- How Do The Extremely Poor Live? – Everyday Utilitarian
- 9 Places Unhappy People Look for Happiness (becomingminimalist.com)
- Everyone Has A Different Definition Of Happiness, And That’s Okay | Thought Catalog
Thank you! 🙂
Hi Lokshana,
It is definitely something to think about. Do you believe the world would be better off if we were all “middle class” instead of having a straight divide between rich and poor? Also, how will you go about your next post? I was thinking about this post’s connection to your next one and I think that you were focusing on the quality of life each type of person gets. The real question here is do you think there is enough things in life that do not cost too much that bring happiness?
Here are some links to help out
https://bestlifeonline.com/money-free-happiness/
https://www.businessinsider.com/science-backed-things-that-make-you-happier-2015-6
https://www.oprah.com/spirit/spreading-happiness-how-to-make-people-happy/all
Good luck!
Hi Shieva!
Thank you for your feedback! To answer your answer…
1) I was debating about the same question myself when I was doing my research and I couldn’t come to a conclusion. I have 2 opinion to this. First, I think that the world would be better if everyone would be better off if we were all middle class because there wouldn’t be any division in our society as well as no discriminations. But on the other hand, we wouldn’t be technologically advanced as well as advanced knowledge. So I can’t seem to come to a conclusion on this question. What do you think?
2) I haven’t plan how my next post will look like yet, but the question you asked is very interesting. I will take in consideration when planning my next post.
Thank for the sources!
Lokshana 🙂
Hi Lokshana,
I think your post was really good. Most of the time in Kenya the rich people oppress the poor which I think is not a good thing. Mostly the politicians make promises that they never fulfill. What is more shocking is that they even steal the money that was set aside to help the poor. I think that everyone is equal no matter how poor or rich you are. I also don’t think money brings happiness it brings enmity.
Here is a link that can help you out
https://www.healthline.com/health/can-money-buy-happiness#takeway
Hi Peter,
Thank you so much for your feedback!! Fake promises are something that many politicians have been famous for. And I still do not understand why they should do that? I mean they are already at a higher status then why steal from others?! And yes I do agree that money only brings partial happiness because the rest is the only enmity.
Hey Lokshana, great post! I really love your topic and I find it to be a fantastically important conversation for some people to have. Too many people that I have met or seen in my life base their entire happiness and mental stability on the amount of money in their bank account, which I feel is incredibly unhealthy and potentially dangerous. In my experience, individuals like this are never happy with the money they have and even if they get more, their emotional state seems to stay stagnant; I find that this is a terrible state and should be looked into exactly how one might try to help someone with depression (the “grind” might be considered positive, but if it seems like it is your entire life, it is most definitely negative). Great post! I also have one question for you: Do you believe in socialism, or do you believe that due to the human condition, money will always be hoarded by certain individuals?
Some resources you may find useful are:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797610362671
https://search.proquest.com/openview/705d1636055d09be110fad9f7eea6652/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=34750
https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/ajoswald/marchwindfallsgo.pdf
https://www.nber.org/papers/w17056
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057740811000192
Hi Lokshana,
Great post! You touched on several of the driving factors in your question – the differences in the rich and the poor, the divides in their lifestyles etc.
My parents and I were talking about this topic recently and they mentioned how when they used to be living on a lot less money than they have currently, their problems were far less complex. They mentioned when having money, they have an urge to spend more of it, or purchase products with higher quality whereas when they didn’t have as much, they would have a “saving” mindset.
Perhaps in your future post, you could explore the motivating factors of purchasing items or the transitions from rich to poor or poor to rich and if this has an effect on their overall happiness.
Do you believe there is a difference in happiness when someone who has never experienced being rich becomes rich or when someone who was always rich becomes poor? Do people adapt to their situation and find happiness? Or will their happiest memories be linked with wealth? Let me know what you think!
Here are a few sources that might help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az6NibAUf7Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVuVlk2E_e4
Awesome work! Can’t wait to read your future posts!
Rasee
Hi Rasee!!
Thank you so much for your feedback! And to answer your question…Yes, in my opinion, there will be a huge difference in happiness when someone who has never experienced being rich becomes rich because that could’ve been their dream. And in a sense, their dream will be fulfilled and so there will be that accomplishments happiness as well as the joy of being able to purchase products they want. However, if a person who has always been rich becomes poor, then that’s where I would say there won’t be any happiness at all. Because they would have this habit or satisfaction of buying expensive products or purchasing whatever they want. The idea of even having a “saving mindset” will make them unhappy.
i hope that made sense 🙂
what do you think?