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

Arguably toxic, condescending attitudes such as these remind me of the neo-Marxist theory that societal tropes/myths (such as the Happy Poor, the Honorable Blue-Collar Worker, etc.) are little more than large-scale collective rationalizations of thoroughgoing social stratification and excesses of wealth built near-entirely upon the backs of the impoverished, the disenfranchised, the marginalized. To what extent do we owe these half-baked notions to a collective and largely unconscious need to justify ourselves and the society in which we live?
 
yeah by some of the replies here you'd think..
*insert image of infant starving to death in front of vulture* (i really don't wanna look it up)
label it "bliss".

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."

remember when i ran the happiness scale in the lounge for a couple of years? i think i still have the graph somewhere.
 
I'm told and reminded of the things I don't have, but the people with the least seem to be content with what they do have.

In this day and age, it feels as though ambition is a curse for many and rarely a good virtue. Family will constantly guilt trip me and remind me of my short comings, yet from the view point of greed, everyone except the richest, man on earth is a failure.
 
I'm a lot happier now than when I was poor that's for sure. Not that I'm "rich" now lol, just no longer poor. Tough times are teh fuckn stress! Not buyin it. I might speculate that those with a financial status of "comfortable" feel more gratitude than those at level of "Spoilt brat" however.
 
Who says they are?

I am very happy driving my GT-R,riding in my sexy friends SL 65 AMG, drinking cognac, going to upscale clubs with $100 cover charges,and blowing rails while having sex 3 times a day with 3 different chicks.

Sorry, it's way more fun than taking the bus and eating Kraft dinner. Poorfags just jelly.
 
I think that it's about desire.
If you want something, you realize you don't have it and are unhappy.
If you have no wants, you're content.

It isn't about what you have, it's about what you want.
 
It isn't about what you have, it's about what you want.

so true. i'm more than happy to only have a bed and a computer, it's more than enough for me. i was created to be a simple animal and i was granted all of this awesome shit because i'm human and i love it!!! i dont have to catch my own food, i dont have to sleep in the cold, hell i dont even have to walk anywhere. I LOVE MY LIFE. You see if you look at it from the perspective of an animal, we're so fortunate for all of our technology, why should we be sad that we dont have more when we already have sooo much?

i think i'd be happier if the society wasn't based around slave labor in order to attain these luxuries. i hate working and i wish i could devote more time to thinking about the one truth
 
It's been well established in sociology that happiness is not proportional to material wealth. Just think about it. Why is the suicide rate on Africa so small compared to Western "rich" nations?

I have personnal experience with this. My Dad is a self-made millionaire, but he STILL needs a bottle of scotch each night to sleep, and you can tell he'll probably never find true happiness because he has brought into the LIE that the more money you have, the happier you come. I mean sure, you'll get a little thrill out of selling some shares for $3,000,000, but it's only cheap and short, and suddenly you'll want $10,000,000!! You see this even with billionaires, they only want MORE. It's a fucking drug. \

Who the hell wants to be the richest person in the graveyeard??

The *happiesy* people I have come across so far in my journey are that focus their lives on personal relationships. They have OK paying jobs, but that's not their main priority in life.
 
Personally, I'm planning on a life of ascetism once the world doesn't end. (: Gonna take my ass to Thailand, cheapest place to live in the world haha, and just chill and travel on foot. I can't wait. ((:
 
Yah, I've heard something like 30 baht for every dollar, and only a few thousand baht for living expenses a month. And that's if you do it American style and don't grow any food or barter at all! Plus, I almost wanna supplement myself with tutoring. Just because I wanted to be a teacher forever.
 
Having objects in the world means having attachments. Attachments external to the body make it harder to feel the Oneness of life, it makes the person feel separate from the universe.
 
Yah, I've heard something like 30 baht for every dollar.

Yeah going to South-East Asia is just a free-for-all with Westerners. When I was there it was basically a case of "money is not a object". ANYTHING your hedonistic mind could think of at the time was on. Of course this can be dangerous, hence why I ended up on life support. Viagra + coke + weed + Vietnamese women was beyond description.
 
Having materials doesn't necessarily mean having attachment.
Only if you're attached to what you have.
 
Lol, my name is Lain. If you've ever heard of that band named !!!, they pronounce it CHK CHK CHK. So maybe Chk Chk lol. The username itself was just randomly generated to demonstrate anonymity and chaos.
 
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