Money and possessions. Do these things make you happy? Does
having money mean that happiness is within your means? It seems like in this
day and age, objects and the means of obtaining them (money) are being valued
more and more as time goes on. Can you be happy without them? Can the poor man
be happier than the rich man, or is it the other way around? Can they both be
equally happy? I’d like to dive deeper into this topic of possessions, money,
and their effect on your level of overall contentment.
But first, here's a radical idea. How about a culture where
money doesn’t exist? Is there such a thing in this present day and age? Believe
it or not, we’ve took a glance at such a culture at the beginning of the
semester, in Happiness: A Very Short
Introduction. The Pirahã people of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest were a
hunter gatherer culture, and had no real form of currency that was used amongst
themselves or others. What they mainly do is either gather resources for
themselves (and can do so successfully under extreme circumstances – going into
a jungle naked and coming out days later with goods and game) as well as very
occasionally trading goods with others. They are truly independent for the most
part, and shun almost all aspects of ‘outside’ culture. These
people, says Daniel Everett (someone who’s made intimate contact with the
group), appeared to be the happiest people he’d ever seen. They have no word
for worry in their language. And they
were not in the least bit tempted by the outside world’s invasive culture,
apart from the odd item of clothing given to them by traders for goods (More info can be found from a New Yorker Article).
The Pirahã people - Retrieved from Dan Everett - https://daneverettbooks.com/media/photos/
So that may be one example of people being realistically
happy without much in the way of money or possessions, but what about the group
of people who do have money? Certainly, they aren’t in the same boat as the Pirahã
(for theirs are probably much bigger and shinier). What do the prospects of happiness
look like for them? One interesting piece of evidence dates back to 1978, where
Phillip Brickman of Northwestern University and some fellow colleagues of his
published a paper delving into an investigation they oversaw involving winners
of the lottery and their level of happiness. The results showed that those who
had won the lottery were, as time went on, no more happier than a control
group. This lead to the conclusion that money (or, at least, a sudden increase of
it) was not a determining factor for one’s level of happiness. An equal level of happiness between both isolated
parties existed it seems, regardless of the gap in wealth between them. Here's the full scholarly article for those who are interested.
Surely, though, money in it of itself has something to do
with one’s happiness. It may work well for the Pirahã who live in an isolated
culture to themselves, but even then, they’ve managed to procure basic
necessities. What if one doesn’t have that ability? Not only that, but we live
in the year 2017, where the world wide web, fast transportation, and other
modern technology connect us all to each other. We are a world who is dependent
upon each other and on money in order to get by and thrive. If one had no money
at all – no money to buy tools, gadgets, material goods, experiences, or even
the basic necessities of life – they wouldn’t be happy in the least…or would
they? Could they? I’ll be diving into this in the next installment.
Moneyless societies are a fun concept, although they seem dubious. It's a thing that exists to allow people to specialize in what they can specialize in and not have to worry about how they get the other necessities of life. I've played enough Settlers of Catan to realize how problematic a barter system can be when it comes to getting what you need with what you have.
ReplyDeleteI think that they key here is finding a comfortable and manageable level of monetary gain, figuring out how to survive at that level and accepting that getting richer is more trouble than its worth.
I'm curious to see how you take this.
Well, in settlers of catan, you're working against each other, not with each other. I'd hope that in a true moneyless society, there would be more of a communal effort among common people of one whole world. That's what appears to be happening with the Pirahã people - they rely on each other for support, and help each other. They aren't working against each other, and because of that they survive and are happy.
DeleteI hate it but we need it. Money is the root of all evil but it also keeps us together. Even in the money-less society they have a trade system, this is what drives society. If we don't have money, we don't have anything. We can say we aren't "materialistic" but there are things that we need.
ReplyDelete"From each according to ability, to each according to need"... If all our needs were indeed met, where "needs" include the conditions of health, education, and general well-being in terms of purposive work and meaningful relationships etc., why wouldn't we expect to be happy? And if the satisfaction of every need left us unhappy, why shouldn't we conclude that humans are not well-designed for happiness?
ReplyDeleteBut I'm still holding out for Gene Roddenberry's vision of a cashless 24th century. Don't stop thinking about tomorrow...
Sadly, much of society thinks money can buy happiness. How else can you get the latest iPhone?!?
ReplyDeleteBut I do think that some people (like us) strive to be like the Piranha people: to be able to be happy without the worries of money. We are forced into a society that is dependent on money, whether it's for food, clothing, rent, utilities, or even entertainment.