Money and Happiness - Final Report 2nd Installment

Link to 1st Installment as well as Comment #1 and Comment #2

In the last installment, there was one question in particular at the end that I wanted to dive into. Could people within modern civilization find a way to be happy if they had no money at all? I believe, to a certain extent, that this is indeed possible. Though, I must admit, some sort of prerequisite that involves obtaining some of life’s basic necessities is in order first, and for the large majority of people, that usually involves buying them with cash. Shortly after obtaining good clothes on your back, good boots or shoes, possibly some sort of tarp or tent for shelter, along with select amounts of certain tools, one can forage for whatever other resources one needs, scavenge the land for shelter, food, and places to sleep, and traverse a peculiar lifestyle that leads to one’s survival, and to some, one’s happiness and contentment.

Let’s face it: the rat race can be a huge drag. I’m sure there are not many people who particularly enjoy some of the mundane activities that modern civilization has to offer. 

The majority of people do seem to think of that as a necessary requirement for the things within that lifestyle that do make them happy, such as all the things one can obtain with money, the experiences one gets from one’s work life and one’s social life, the chance to vacation in lavish ways to various destinations, and so on and so forth. There is a lot of work and effort that goes into maintaining such a living, and it all revolves around constantly procuring and having money in order to be able to accomplish those things. Often times, one will get swept up in the current, and be too busy making money that the time for any of the other things slips away completely if one’s not careful.

There are those out there, living within the confines of western civilization, all over the world, who choose to deny this kind of lifestyle that is owned by the necessity of money. The purposefully homeless (or houseless, as some might prefer to say), the ones who are successfully reliant upon only themselves, those who find crafty ways of finding food, shelter, transportation, and other necessities, those who utilize what the universe has to provide for them to live this way; there are those who live such lifestyles, and they can be some of the most content people in the world simply because they aren't bothered by the other requirements that go along with the pursuit of money. Madeleine Peyroux stated it very nicely in a song she wrote entitled “Homeless Happiness” (embedded below) where an excerpt of the lyrics proclaim "No hurries no worries for me". The full extent of the lyrics can be found here.

The key is the sheer amount of consumption that one goes through. The less you consume, the less of a necessity money becomes. The more ways you can find resources for sustaining yourself in ways that are of no cost to you (or others, which can be possible), money becomes something you need less and less of in order to survive and thrive. There is an immense amount of happiness that can be derived from living such a simplistic, self sustaining life. When one is mainly reliant upon one’s self, a satisfaction of a job well done along with a life well led can follow suit in the wake of success and survival.

Living simply has its own joys that money could never purchase, and because of that, I believe it is possible to live happily without money, but only when done in the right way and when one has the necessary means and drive to live a life such as this. I certainly recognize that not everyone is fit for that, that there are major risks involved with advancing into such a lifestyle that recognizes and embraces an uncertain future, that there are also others who don’t desire such a life, and that is understandable. What I merely want to recognize is that one can live a life like this and be happy. One can essentially live without money for the most part and go on and thrive in personal accomplishment, and that is sufficient for a happy life for those who manage to succeed.