Does Wealth Equate to Genuine Happiness?

[selfAdjoint]

Japan has a high savings rate. They are soaking up our debt, along with the Chinese.

 

[Dagenais]

Kid (Girl or Boy): "Daddy how much do you make?"
Dad: "I make $30 000 kid."
Kid: "WoW! I want to make that too, but plus $1 million."
Dad: "I hope your dreams come true kid."
Kid: "I was thinking dad. If you only make $30 000 and my friends dad makes $250 000, then why do we have a better car and house?"

I've noticed that quite a few people living on modest budgets (to put it nicely), drive very nice cars. Different cultures probably have different ideas of what may be important. Expensive cars seem to be popular to the African-American crowd, even when they don't have the cash (if you want to argue this, listen to their very materialistic music or simply open your eyes):

The biggest example that comes to mind would be the reality TV show "Trading Spouses/Moms" or whatever it's called, where each family trades a mother for 1 week to another family (Fox).

In this 1 episode, a Japanese family (incredibly wealthy) took on an african-american mother from the projects of Houston, Texas. Each family gets $50,000 for doing this.

Now, the mother from Houston and her family had large debts, and their house was simply horrible. The first thing on her mind was, "When I get that $50,000, I'm going to buy a Corvette." Not to pay off debts, but to spend more money.

I have friends in America with this mantality too. They get money, but instead of paying the bills and debt, they spend it on something else, which in the long run, will keep them in debt.

It depends on the way someone is raised too. If a child is raised with a strict allowance and their parents are money-minded, constantly reminding their child that they have to pay back half the cost of their new CD player, chances are the kid will grow up obsessed with these things.

 

[Mandrake]

so how much does it take?

We still don't have much of an answer as to what constitutes wealth? How is it that the Democrats want to tax the wealthy if that category of people cannot be identified?

Is wealth income? -- or -- Is wealth assets?

Whatever the answer, how much? Is a million dollars enough to define wealth? Does it matter if assets are hard, or liquid? For example, suppose someone owns a house worth a million dollars (no loan) and has $200k in the bank; compare him to a person who owns a home worth $200k, but has a million bucks in the bank. Are they equally wealthy (or equally poor)?

Perhaps not related, but ... Why is it that the "party of the poor" is so focused on nominating candidates who are outrageously wealthy? Do people such as Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Kerry have a better understanding of poor people than do people who are or have been poor?

 

[Zantra]

We still don't have much of an answer as to what constitutes wealth? How is it that the Democrats want to tax the wealthy if that category of people cannot be identified?

Is wealth income? -- or -- Is wealth assets?

Whatever the answer, how much? Is a million dollars enough to define wealth? Does it matter if assets are hard, or liquid? For example, suppose someone owns a house worth a million dollars (no loan) and has $200k in the bank; compare him to a person who owns a home worth $200k, but has a million bucks in the bank. Are they equally wealthy (or equally poor)?

Perhaps not related, but ... Why is it that the "party of the poor" is so focused on nominating candidates who are outrageously wealthy? Do people such as Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Kerry have a better understanding of poor people than do people who are or have been poor?

I guess the definition of wealth is a subjective thing.

wealth could be income or assets, though most financial institutions will look at assets as more solid then unearned income that is tenous.

Someone with a million dollar house and 200k in the bank would be potentially wealthier with current real estate trends.. the appreciation on a house is approx 20%/yr compared with a 5-6% rate sitting in a bank account.

 

[False Prophet]

...the appreciation on a house is approx 20%/yr...

That must be some PRIME real estate!

You are right that wealth is a subjective term in terms of what may constitute a material sufficiency. Same as happiness in terms of what facts, information, circumstances etc. would constitute a content feeling.

About health care, a rich man may feel the same going to the best doctor in the world as a poor man who scrounged up enough loot to see the general practitioner down the block. The rich man may feel the same sense of security from his millions of dollars in stock that always provides his lobster and caviar, as a poor man feels from his job at White Castle, which always provides macoroni & cheese and diapers.

These feelings of security and happiness are up to the person, not the money.

Do rich people really have elevated seretonine levels in their brains, or somehow get stronger emotions than someone in modest circumstances?