Can Money Buy Happiness

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John Goto Professor Komninos Writing 1 (tues/thurs 11:30am-3:20pm) 7/7/2015 The price of contentment In this day and age when anyone with a credit card and a smart phone can purchase anything that their hearts desire, the topic of money and happiness has never been more relevant. Happiness as defined by dictionary.com is the feeling of luck, fortune, and contentment. There is a reoccurring trend in hip hop music about how the artists grew up in the ghetto and how miserable their lives were before they “made it”. Could these artists have achieved the same level of happiness if they had remained in the ghetto knowing that they had a loving family and friends surrounding them? The data seems to suggest that the answer to this question is no. Although having close friends and family can provide some comfort, there is no way to truly replace the happiness and peace of mind which only money can provide. There is no denying the fact that a life of poverty and deprivation is not the most enjoyable existence. How could it be? “In Poor countries such as India, where low income threatens basic human needs more often, being relatively well off does predict greater well-being (Argyle, 1999)” (Myers, 2000, p. 18). Every human needs food, water, and shelter in order to sustain life. If these basic needs are not met, how can these individuals achieve happiness? The answer is that they cannot. The person who said that money cannot buy peace of mind has never truly lived in poverty. Imagine for a moment, that there are two individuals with greatly differing incomes. The first person is a rich Wall Street banker. The banker has enough money to take care of all of his expenses and more. The banker has great health insurance, so he never has to worry about any illnesses that he or his family may fall victim to. The banker also has a house that has been completely paid off and his
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