Happiness

Store-Bought Happiness
“The wildfire spread of the consumer life-style around the world marks the most rapid and fundamental change in day-to-day existence the human species has ever experienced. Over a few short generations we have become car drivers, television watchers, mall shoppers, and throw-away buyers”(Durning 177). Americans are the epitome of this lifestyle; the American dream has been translated from “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of stuff”. The more civilized, industrialized, and advanced this country becomes, the more the people become infatuated with money and material possessions. But does the pursuit of stuff equate with the pursuit of happiness? Will acquiring money and materials bring happiness? Are Americans correct in their understanding of happiness? Many think not. One such person is St. Paul who wrote, “ Not money, but ‘the love of money is the root of all evil’”(qtd. in Martin). It is understood by all that Americans rely on the transfer of money for the basic life necessities, for the extravagant purchases, and for everything in between. That is not where the problem lies; the problem has arisen from the ever growing love for money and its purchasing power. This attachment for money has skewed the general interpretation of life’s happiness and the most important things in life. Americans need to remember it is not possible to buy a happy life.
After the minimum life necessities have been met, money has little influence on happiness. When Filipe Campante and David Yanagizawa-Drott, Harvard economists, studied data from every Ramadan since 1950 they expected to verify that Ramadan was counter productive to the economy, or GDP(Wittmeyer 28). While they did ...

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...merica this saying is scoffed at, and further, believed by most to be a utopian ideal that is not their reality. It is harder to practice and understand that happiness is intrinsic and can only be accomplished on a personal level where money and material possessions have little influence. The unrelenting media, advertisements, and competition in America prevent most from leading personally fulfilling lives. Take away all the love of money, the love of fame, and the love of possession, and what is left is the simple, happy life. It can be seen by most that happiness is a result of friendships, family, and activity. Putting this into practice and eliminating the need and desire for money will prove to be difficult in this country at this time. But as Henry David Thoreau said, “ A man is rich in proportion to the things he can afford to let alone”(qtd. in Durning 179).