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Why is it that people who have less material things tend to be the happiest?

missmegandelaney

missmegandelaney

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I live in America, and it feels like our happiness is so based around material goods that we've got it into our minds that if we don't have the latest smart phone or the most expensive car we can't be happy untill we posses those things. If you have money, you have happiness.

There are poor countries that don't have any of the nice things America does, and they couldn't care less. Family and friends make them happy, and they think they couldn't be any happier.
 
Well, on a practical level, the less you have, the easier your life is. Almost like defragging a computer, but instead, defragging your life. It's easier to be more efficient when you cut things down to the essentials. Plus, I always find the more things you hoard, the more shitty karma and baggage you hold on to.

Keeping things basic gives you more freedom to restart in my opinion.

Also, if your identity is based on possessions, your value to other people is what you have, not who you are. Which means you place less importance on getting to know yourself and improving your mind, so your problems will remain unsolved, keeping you from being happy.

Then again, there's nothing wrong with having stuff.
 
Money ruins it all. I met a guy down by the beach, he has a 9 million dollar house. He drives a beat up old truck with a rack on the back and 3 used surfboards, he sits in his lawn chair all day and stares at the ocean.
 
It's not about the material possessions one owns, it's about ones desire for more. Material possessions can make you happy, and if that's the case, more power to you.
It's about much more than material possessions, if you put the people you're referring to into the physical circumstances of the Americans you're referring to I bet the first people will be even happier.
It's not like being poor makes you happy.
 
I lost my job 2 months ago and haven't been this happy in years.

Having money can be soul destroying.
The last time I got paid was the last time I felt genuinely preoccupied and stressed.
"The richest man is not he who has the most, but he who needs the least".

Give me a tropical island to live on, no money, the means to survive and good company over anything else.
 
The people who have less material things and the most simplistic life tend to be happier, IMO, because there is less clutter in the head. Less objects and false idols that drain your attention. It's not some magical secret, it's just people in the West are hypnotized from a young age to believe that material things bring happiness and that's what one should strive towards (great material wealth).

I think this picture sums it up pretty succinctly

mindfulness-poster.jpg
 
If your circumstance dictates that you have nothing, and no hope of ever improving your position, you have two options. One is accept your fate and enjoy your life for what it is, the other is complain and moan and cry and wake up every morning until the day you die cursing your poor luck. It all comes down to glass half full vs glass half empty.

Sure you can give examples of people with nothing who are happy, but I can give you just as many with it all who couldn't be happier. It might make you feel better to think that these people are miserable but don't kid your self that money can't bring you happiness if you want it to. It comes down to facing each morning with a positive outlook, rich or poor. Money may not solve all your problems but it sure solves a lot of problems that having no money causes.
 
I think externalizing identity into material possessions, helps to recognize or gain more of a sense of self for many, but can leave one feeling hallow and wanting more of the same familiar fulfillment

Recognizing yourself amongst others and in nature, as well as others and nature amongst yourself, it is hard to want for anything more.
 
Busty St Clare said:
If your circumstance dictates that you have nothing, and no hope of ever improving your position, you have two options. One is accept your fate and enjoy your life for what it is, the other is complain and moan and cry and wake up every morning until the day you die cursing your poor luck. It all comes down to glass half full vs glass half empty.

Sure you can give examples of people with nothing who are happy, but I can give you just as many with it all who couldn't be happier. It might make you feel better to think that these people are miserable but don't kid your self that money can't bring you happiness if you want it to. It comes down to facing each morning with a positive outlook, rich or poor. Money may not solve all your problems but it sure solves a lot of problems that having no money causes.
Click to expand...

Money can't bring you happiness, but it gets rid of the unhappiness of being broke.
 
People who have money don't have a problem. The problem is with people who don't have money getting sucked into the American Dream by banks confidently telling the public outrageous lies like "You're richer than you think!" (that's actually Scotiabank's slogan). The truest thing I heard in the credit industry was: "people who have the best credit usually don't even need credit". People who know how to manage money know how to live within their means, but for each one of those people there are a number of people who take on debts they can't afford from easy-lending banks to pay for expensive frivolities. They're left with no option but to bust their humps day in and day out, working two jobs six days a week because they didn't realize the money pit they've dug for themselves takes so much to fill.

The need to show your wealth (aka status) is also a cultural phenomenon in America. Turn your TV dial to BET to see why black youth working at Wendy's needs to drive an Escalade regardless of how much the car costs versus how little the job pays. Another interesting facet of this is that people are very reluctant to talk about what they earn in Western society. It's offensive to ask and people seem to feel ashamed to admit what they earn. The result is everyone gets caught up in a game of face where those who earn 20G a year are driving a Benz in the attempt to fool everyone into believing that they have "made it" whilst paying on a third mortgage.

I don't think this situation will improve in the near future.
 
shimazu said:
^ so the solution is to not play the game
Click to expand...

But for people who have no hope of ever climbing the social ladder or getting some kind of comfortable life the only alternative (besides death or engaging in a philosophic path) is to engage in a fantasy of pretend. The reality is that there is little hope for most people these days.. deep down most of these people know it too but are too afraid to either kill themselves or live in truth. So rather than fester in the unfortunate circumstances they make a fairytale land for themselves using cheap credit. And why not? If I was living in some shithole and working at McD's I'd probably do the same!
 
What I have heard is that money DOES affect happiness up to a point. Someone who lives in a tiny shack is going to be happier than a guy sleeping on the street. But beyond a certain minimum level of comfort, people adjust their expectation and learn to be happy with what they have.
 
you can't quantify misery and happiness to a comparable level. not even to make ^that^ assertion.
 
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