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

I always thought that people in third world countries tend to be alot happier. In Western countries we are obsessed with phones, fashion, tv, money etc. All that seems to lead to mental illness. Many third world cultures now have Western-type societies but its not as bad.
 
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EA-1475 said:
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.
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Exactly.

Another thing one could consider in this discussion - Maslow's Hierarchy, modernism vs. postmodernism. When you're poor you think "I wish I had food/water/shelter/clothes, then I'd be happy," and these needs are far simpler and more definite than the needs of someone with money in a postmodernist society who has all the material possessions they need but still feels unsatisfied and cannot pinpoint exactly what they require.
 
I dont agree with how people chase after materialistic things that dont really mean much but at the same time I respect that it is their decision to make. There needs to be money or else the people that do work would just carry everyone else's load even more. Its easy to rip on people for being materialistic when you dont have money yourself, but if you started a thread called "if you could spend a million dollars" on bluelight I bet a good number of people would buy materialistic things, or drugs.
 
Happiness is a state of mind you become aware of, and its impermanent like everything on our earth. I dont believe that money or a car or new clothes can make you happy, it will only give you a false sense of security. In a country like the US, our psyche is polluted with material goods and with burdens that cloud our thoughts.
There is no rubric.. no guidelines for certain happiness. But ive found the less you desire, the less you stress and strain, the more clear your mind is, and the more comfortable you are in your surroundings. I know from experience (personal not universal) that possessions and structure can lead nowhere, and living and breathing in this moment right now is all that can be expected. What we have right here.. is all that is ever needed.
 
-=SS=- said:
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
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Bingo - of course we all also strive toward equality with our peers - if everyone is poor then that's the norm & that's OK with most people, where you have inequality for a sizeable minority then that situation is not one which tends to lead to contentment, instead it leads to unionisation, which of course draws its strength from communal needs and aspirations.


When Thatcher declared "there is no such thing as society" & then with malice aforethought wreaked destruction upon the industrial socialist heartlands I had no idea what that meant - now I do & I'd regard that as an evil ideological position.
I do so love a tangent
 
I'm in two minds about the dogs state of mind in the cartoon - I mean do we know how much a dog thinks and what it thinks about. Some dogs seem as relaxed & chilled as the dog in the cartoon but maybe they're stressing about the new dog down the street or suspiciously sniffing for scent & checking stuff out all the time. The doghead maybe be full of instinctive hunting thoughts & urges competing with a desire to please the owner. In short dogs probably have a split personality.
 
$35 for a quarter annual bus pass

vs

everything that can go wrong with a personal motor vehicle in a 3 month time span,
plus gas.

_________
although, i do still want a BMW M5 with a trunk full of speakers, for sprinting around in(a black one with lots of chrome)
;)

seriously, i try not to laugh when some dudes drive by me walking or at the bus stop, staring like they know me and they BAD.

they want me to know them as, their car, because they have no substance themselves and i actually i do pity the fools.
 
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The question of why is it the less you have the more happy you seem to be.

1. You have to be more happy because you have less things.
2. less things means less responsibility, less to worry about
3. You enjoy the little things more (like having a low tolerance to drugs one pill will make you happy but if you have a high tolerance it takes a lot to make you happy)
4. Your life is more simple, you probably do the same thing every day, no worry's about getting that raise, or changing jobs, or selling that house... just work work work work
 
I've journeyed down the road of materialism vs asceticism (or something like it) for a while, and the outcome is not cut-and-dry... experiences are obviously personal, but this is mine:

Having more or less material wealth ultimately does not dictate a person's happiness/contentedness/etc... I've been everything from virtually homeless, to earning thousands of dollars of cash a week (for very little work). I've slept illegally in basement closets and plush apartments. I've had multitudes of friends and love-interests, and I've been completely alone and sexless. Almost none of these things matter. A person's happiness arises from his sense of purpose in this world. A man that is surrounded by material wealth will most likely be miserable if he has no goal, no aim, no motivation for living. On the other hand, a man that knows his purpose-- whether it be collecting water from a river to avoid dehydration for another day, or handling millions of dollars in stock exchanges-- has a reason to be content, to push on, and wake up another day with a little fire in his eyes. A challenging and goal-oriented life supersedes the comfort of riches or the misery of squalor.
 
a lot of the highest paying jobs require ridiculous hours, like 60+ a week, i'd rather be close to broke working the hours i do now (15-30 a week) than rich working 60.
 
Because they're intoxicated, usually. The very title of the thread is a generalization and a blanket statement in and of itself so...
 
People who generate their happiness internally are emotionally independent. Being emotionally dependent on things which bring temporary pleasure replete with dimminishing returns is no different to deriving one's happiness from drugs. Both lead you in the same general direction
 
This town I live in is full of materialistic people. Not saying I don't have anything, but I have a 1600 sq ft house where alot of people I work with have 3,000 plus sf. I drive a paid off 2004 jeep grand cherokee, which I will drive until it is dead.Most of them brag about their benz or bmw's. Louis Vuittons......eww...superficial bitches. And guess what? Alot of them are chasing something they will never obtain. Fulfillment. What is important to me? My kids and my pets...oh and my friends/family.
 
L2R said:
you can't quantify misery and happiness to a comparable level. not even to make ^that^ assertion.
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There is a standardized happiness index is quantified (correctly, or incorrectly) by Buddhist spiritual leaders that is applied in a Gross Happiness Index today. Contrasting it, a misery index has also been conceived which factors in poverty, disease, etc.


I, like most people, have a problem with the term "happiness" and yes, is difficult to speak of when it is being used as a measure.


Alot of what the OP may be talking about is the nature of desire, and wanting what is needed and fulfillment. Rather than "happiness" being a the term at hand, I'd rather use "Inner peace."
 
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