What is the key to a meaningful life?

[Sprinter]

I really think in this way:
Life is short, whether I am rich or poor, I will also die one day. Therefore, it is better for me to try my best to acquire WEALTH, so that I can live a life with material satisfaction. I can buy almost whatever I want, I can go to any place I desire. In this way, life will be meaningful to me.

 

[dgoodpasture2005]

Yet when you die, you will realize, that to those who cared, you were a waste of time. Give your love, and share your thoughts, or in the end your soul will rot.

 

[Dmstifik8ion]

The genuine values you create and promote during your existence will be your immortality.

 

[Dawguard]

Wealth cannot buy happiness, wealth cannot buy love, wealth cannot buy truth. Live for others, live for light and the greater good and on your deathbed you can look back and say that you leave the world a better place then when you entered it. This alone will afford you comfort in that terrible hour.

 

[loseyourname]

Ultimately, we all live for satisfaction of one sort or another. I'm not as inclined as these others to fault someone for valuing material satisfaction. If that's what you value, then by all means, pursue that. Who's to say that wealth cannot buy happiness? There is no a priori stricture dictating that no person can be made happy by the acquisition of material wealth. It's possible that the gentleman either doesn't care much about love or truth. It's also possible that pursuing material wealth, while it won't buy him love or truth, won't exactly preclude him from attaining these, either.

Only you can know what you value, and what brings joy to your life. Whatever it is, go for it. Just so long as you aren't stomping on everyone else to get there.

 

[Sprinter]

Yet when you die, you will realize, that to those who cared, you were a waste of time. Give your love, and share your thoughts, or in the end your soul will rot.

What is soul? Are you kidding? We may be just a burned off candle.

 

[Sprinter]

This alone will afford you comfort in that terrible hour.

What is that terrible hour? The moment we die?
It is just a split second, or minute. Why care about it? We need to bother only about things during the time we are still alive, so, go ahead to find as much sensual pleasure as you can. Of course, we also need "peace of mind", peace of mind will only come when our physical bodies are satisfied!

 

[Dawguard]

Money and sensual pleasures cannot bring you peace of mind. This is a delusion perpetrated by the poor so they can hope for peace in money: perpetrated by the rich so they can think they have peace. I have been poor, most people know what it is like to struggle hard to make ends meet. Few people have riches and pleasures, so they assume that they will bring peace.

They do not. Money and possesions bring comfort to your body, but what are you? You are your thoughts and your mind. Unless they are comforted then you can never be happy. While money certanly makes it easier to spend time figuring out how to be happy, and sensual pleasures will distract you while they continue, neither one changes who you are. Your being is what makes you happy or sad, so only by changing your being can you bring about a change in disposition.
I would contest that this is an a priori fact, that there are certain things which will lead to happiness, and money is not one of them. How many rich people get divorces, commit suicide, get hooked on drugs, etc. These are indicators that they are not happy, but yet they have everything you say should make you happy. Are you happy now? In the dark of night as you lie awake and listen to the world around, are you happy with yourself? Or do you have to shut thoughts out of your mind, hide from facts and fill your life with business to forget how sad you really are.

Sprinter, what will happen when you are aproaching death? It isn't a moment or second, it might take years. What happens when something nearly kills you and you realize that everything you lived for is worthless? The existence you speak of is meaningless, selfish, and narcistic. I warn you, although you might not believe me. No, I beg you, listen to me. The last thing I want is for you to come to the end of your life and realize too late that we were right and you were wrong. By then there will be no time to change the selfishness that plagued your life, the empty struggle to gain a peace that is not yours. If you take your present path in life you will be end like this: alone and depressed. What good will your nonchalant attitude toward death afford you then?

 

[Lewis]

I really think in this way:
Life is short, whether I am rich or poor, I will also die one day. Therefore, it is better for me to try my best to acquire WEALTH, so that I can live a life with material satisfaction. I can buy almost whatever I want, I can go to any place I desire. In this way, life will be meaningful to me.

Why not kill a few people on the way while you're at it, you're just going to die anyways and it's not like it's going to matter to you when you're gone.

Only you can know what you value, and what brings joy to your life. Whatever it is, go for it. Just so long as you aren't stomping on everyone else to get there.

And therein lies the problem. How can you obtain wealth by not stomping on someone? Somewhere along the line there is poverty, especially in the world we live in today.

 

[Sprinter]

Dawguard,

What is life? It just happens by chance, doesn't it? My parents can plan to have a child, but they can't determine who is the child. I exist by chance. I am basically made of materials and survive on materials too. What can be more important than materials?
I admit that i am poor, therefore i envy rich people. Eventually all of us will die, why not i do something to get more sensual pleasure?
What is mind? If you are starving, can your mind change your starvation? Only bread can change it, not the so-called power of mind!

 

[Dawguard]

What is life? It just happens by chance, doesn't it? My parents can plan to have a child, but they can't determine who is the child. I exist by chance.

True, but this is irrelevant to what makes life happy.

I am basically made of materials and survive on materials too. What can be more important than materials?

Your body is material, but you mind is what you are. If you loose a hand are you any less of yourself? You could be nothing but a head supported by some weird, sci-fi contraption, but you would still be yourself. You are not your body, you are your mind with your body nothing more then a shell.

I admit that i am poor, therefore i envy rich people. Eventually all of us will die, why not i do something to get more sensual pleasure?
What is mind? If you are starving, can your mind change your starvation? Only bread can change it, not the so-called power of mind!

No, if you are starving your mind cannot change that, but I never said being poor was good. I said that having money can help you, but it is not indicitive of happiness. There are poor people who, despite their lack of physical comforts, are very happy people. How would you explain this? How do you explain miserable rich people? There are happy and miserable poor: happy and miserable rich. What this indicates is that wealth is not the cause of joy. You need to be at peace with yourself, and this is something money cannot buy.

 

[Dmstifik8ion]

It is not what you have but how you obtain it that ultimately determines its value. Money is just fancy paper unsuitable for bung fodder. If you earn it, it becomes a possession of pride and you will spend it wisely. If you obtain it by dishonorable means it becomes a token of your dishonor. Money can be your servant or your master regardless of how much you have at your disposal. Take care to remember that what you have is not what determines who you are. How you define wealth now will ultimately determine the meaning it has for you once you achieve it.

 

[Sprinter]

There are poor people who, despite their lack of physical comforts, are very happy people. How would you explain this? How do you explain miserable rich people? There are happy and miserable poor: happy and miserable rich. What this indicates is that wealth is not the cause of joy. You need to be at peace with yourself, and this is something money cannot buy.

This is Complacency! They are not truly happy, they just pretend to be happy. In their hearts, they are actually unhappy and feeling jealous of rich people.
Most of them use religious thinking to comfort themselves, such as regarding KARMA of past life has determined their current states, therefore they have to ACCEPT their situations. Some think that GOD has pre-destined them to be like that, and hope that poverty means less tendency to sin and so can secure a place in heaven.
Ha ha ha, this is the so called Opiate of Mind!

 

[Sprinter]

How you define wealth now will ultimately determine the meaning it has for you once you achieve it.

If I am starving now, I need 10 dollar to buy food, the meaning of 10 dollar is intrinsically important, it is regardless of my mindset about money.

 

[Dawguard]

This is Complacency! They are not truly happy, they just pretend to be happy. In their hearts, they are actually unhappy and feeling jealous of rich people.
Most of them use religious thinking to comfort themselves, such as regarding KARMA of past life has determined their current states, therefore they have to ACCEPT their situations. Some think that GOD has pre-destined them to be like that, and hope that poverty means less tendency to sin and so can secure a place in heaven.
Ha ha ha, this is the so called Opiate of Mind!

You ignored my last point, miserable rich people. There are people who have everything life could offer them, but are still depresed, miserable people. How could you explain this? They have sensual pleasures, comforts, money, inherited it all so they could have all the time to enjoy everything, and yet they are still miserable!
Besides, how can you say they are not happy? What makes it possible for you to judge the fact that they are lying? If they say they are happy how can you make a blanket statement that none of them are?

As for your last post, this is entirely off the point. I am not talking about money that enables you to live. First comes survival, and then comes everything else. If you are struggling just to survive then of course you will spend your time trying to get money. I'm not trying to bash the importance of money for survival, but there is a difference between survival and happiness. Will the food make you happy? It will allieve your starvation and comfort your body, but after that, after survival is taken care of, what good can money do to make you happy?

 

[Sprinter]

I agree that a small group of people are not happy though they are damn rich, but this does not mean money can not buy happiness!
They are rich but unhappy, probably due to their unsatiable GREED.
What I actually emphasize is a balance between material and spiritual bliss.
First, we need to define what is happiness, to know how to gain it, money could be one the means to get it, there is nothing wrong with desiring money as long as you can get it legally and morally, and most important is to make sure you make use of money wisely.
However, there are also many people who are happy just because of having a lot of money, because with money, they can own almost whatever they desire and be truly happy!

 

[Sprinter]

what good can money do to make you happy?

It depends on individual!
To me, I like reading, if I got a lot of money (let's say 100 million dollar), I will set up a private library and buy 1 million books that I like, I will resign my job, everyday I stay inside my library reading books. When I feel bored, I will go out for outdoor activities. And I will also travel to many good places of the world. And I will eat all kinds of good food over the world.
Isn't that an ideal life?

 

[dgoodpasture2005]

What about those who will currently be in the condition and situation that you were once in? What about life and survival? Caring? Giving? Will you take for granted the breath that you breathe, while others die of starvation when you can knowingly save them and make the world a better place? Or will the thoughts ever cross your mind? Money is both necessary and evil, yet it doesn't have to be that way.

 

[Lewis]

Don't you find sensual pleasures superficial, as if there is some deeper joy to be reached by knowledge of your wants, which are derived from your thoughts?

Let's say you are born into an imaginary society, where you have your basic needs met and you are not influenced in any way whatsoever by anything around you. In that way, your mind does not build up images and associate feelings with those images. Do you think you will naturally gravitate to a materialistic existence? If the feeling that you will not somehow be improved by a material object does not exist, do you think the desire for that object will still persist? If not, doesn't this imply that our desires for material goods beyond those which afford us life are merely products of our upbringing and our society around us? And if that is the case, this would seem to imply that there is a deeper pleasure to be sought after, only attainable by the understanding of our minds.

 

[dgoodpasture2005]

I concur Lewis. Great post :) Although it was hard for me to logically follow growing up in an imaginary society :P. I think another good example would be something like this, "what if you started out life in 'the modern world' at 21 years old, after growing up in an African tribe?". What would have meaning to you? Our society is a reflection of who we are as a whole, yet our society also reflects us as individuals. Since our society is not an individual, it's up to the individual to change the society and/or outcome of the individuals future actions. On another note, I wish our society acted as an individual, as in working in unison towards a common positive goal. We have become slaves to ourselves so that we can continue to purchase the latest technological or fashion crave. I think we're going to get sick of it soon. I am.

 

[Lewis]

I concur Lewis. Great post :) Although it was hard for me to logically follow growing up in an imaginary society :P. I think another good example would be something like this, "what if you started out life in 'the modern world' at 21 years old, after growing up in an African tribe?". What would have meaning to you? Our society is a reflection of who we are, yet we are also a reflection of our society. Since our society is not an individual, it's up to the individual to change the society and/or outcome of the individuals future actions. On another note, I wish our society acted as an individual, as in working in unison towards a common positive goal. We have become slaves to ourselves so that we can continue to purchase the latest technological or fashion crave. I think we're going to get sick of it soon. I am.

Sorry for the confusion. When I said imaginary society, I mearly meant create the abstraction of not growing up with any influences. It's only imaginary because it doesn't (to my knowledge) exist in the world.

What you said about growing up in one society is a good example of what I meant. It seems to be plainly clear that our personal wants are a reflection of how we grew up(but not exclusively so), i.e. what our parents were like, what our school was like, how we spent our time outside of school, etc. The one thread that binds these things is our memory and our thoughts. The former conforms the latter; the way we think is a direct consequence of the life we have lived, which is contained for future reference for us in our memories.

So, if you ever want to discover what life is truly about and why it is worth living, it is first essential to understand the way we think, and to rid ourselves of those memories which conform us.

 

[dgoodpasture2005]

Exactly, exactly. Perceptional alternation between realities and perspectives. If we can't see further than our own two eyes, we'll never change. Yet, then again, who's to say that we all desire change? Most don't even realize it 'till they're on their death beds. I think right now, as a world society... we're on our death beds. We need to change before we flatline. Just my opinion. Oh, by the way, there was no confusion, I was just poking a little fun at the logic of the terminology :) I understood... feel free to do it back.

 

[Lewis]

If change is desired it will never come, it will merely end up in the way of all other desires: conflict.

Desire itself is the true problem. It is desire that is the product of your memories and therefore a product of the past. If you ever want to bring about change you must not act from the past. So change will only come once we have abandoned memories.

 

[dgoodpasture2005]

It depends, if the desired change is love and effection, it can be done by example and surely achieved. As human beings, all we have is the future and the past. But you are right. We can now learn from the past and start to think in present times; the moment. In the moment is created both the future and the past, and the future and the past are now within the moment. Once we can truly grasp this and it has meaning, we can become more conscious and aware of what it is that we are doing to ourselves and the world, the future and current implications, and the change that needs to be seen. Todays a new day... this second is a new second. Right our wrongs and start new. But it takes everyone. It's never too late to start... and it's never too little to start with. Example goes a long way. (as you can see, when we fight, we fight... when we're at peace, we're at peace... but who's setting the example?)

 

[Lewis]

We had best not get too far off the subject, I would like to see how Sprinter responds to the above few posts first before continuing

 

[dgoodpasture2005]

haha, you're right. It was enjoyable though. Thank you. Can't wait to continue it, in the meantime, take it easy Lewis.

 

[Sprinter]

What about those who will currently be in the condition and situation that you were once in? What about life and survival? Caring? Giving? Will you take for granted the breath that you breathe, while others die of starvation when you can knowingly save them and make the world a better place? Or will the thoughts ever cross your mind? Money is both necessary and evil, yet it doesn't have to be that way.

Sorry, I don't think I can change the world, I am one of the people who toils to survive.
I can donate a little money for charity, but how many times can I do that? Some terrible situations in the world, such as famine + civil war in Africa , are political problems that I really can not do anything to help rectify the situations.
So, why bother about it?

 

[Sprinter]

I think:
1) Happiness can not be independent of external conditions. For instance, you may know meditation and enjoy its spiritual pleasure; while sitting in a room meditating, a fire breaks and burns the house, are you able to continue meditating and enjoy it? Surely you will evacuate in panic.

So, I believe happiness (of mind and body) must be closely related to outside world, and obviously, MONEY is an effective mean to achieve it, the most direct way to get it.

 

[dgoodpasture2005]

So, you think the world can change you, but you can't change the world? It's the people in this world that make you what you are, and it's the way this world works that puts you in the position that you are in. Why is it that others can effect you... but you feel as if you don't have this same power as well?

 

[Sprinter]

One of the biggest issue of the world is Economy. Economy is about what? Basically about commodity! When economy is bad, it always means survival is difficult, job is difficult to get, prices of good are high etc...such as the asean economy crisis in 1997.
Economy has nothing to do with "mind", it is entirely about physical needs! And Economy is a key factor that will determine the happiness of most people, I can say the whole world!
The embodiment of economy is MONEY, dollar and cent, when everone has enough money to buy what they want, he/she will be happy.

 

[dgoodpasture2005]

The world is our house. Are you saying it is on fire? Then be the water that puts it out. You can go buy some seeds for a couple dollars and plant your own garden. You never have to buy any food. You don't really need electronics nor fancy clothes. Money is hardly needed unless you submit to the slavery of this cruel world. The only money that is needed is for those who have fallen so far behind. Example; Africa. Can you imagine what the world would be like if we didn't have money and we all took care of ourselves in a community that consisted of everything you need to stay alive? We are completely capable of this. The world could operat in communities. Green houses and waterplants. Why do we have to pay for electricity? It's the way that it's currently being run that is the problem. I've got to go for the night. Nice talking, cya tomorrow.

 

[Sprinter]

So, you think the world can change you, but you can't change the world? It's the people in this world that make you what you are, and it's the way this world works that puts you in the position that you are in. Why is it that others can effect you... but you feel as if you don't have this same power as well?

I don't think the world can change me, I just "react" to the world in the way I prefer to. How do I react depends on situations and my own opinions about what is the best decision that benefits me the most.
I may be able to influence a small number of people, but this is very miniature and it is up to them to shape themselves.

 

[clouded.perception]

Sprinter, the fulfillment of physical desires is very important, but not necessarily the only thing important to be happy.

I agree with you to the extent that having enought money for everything you need (assuming such goods are available, of course,) is a huge stress reducer and can only improve happiness, but the height of happiness is not the acquiring of all necessary physical possessions.

I could back up my arguments, but I don't see the point as generations of psychologists have already done it for me (I find the easiest diagram to understand to be Maslow's heirarchy of needs, look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about).

 

[clouded.perception]

Sprinter, a small amount of people is often enough to effect a change.

 

[Sprinter]

The world is our house. Are you saying it is on fire? Then be the water that puts it out. You can go buy some seeds for a couple dollars and plant your own garden. You never have to buy any food. You don't really need electronics nor fancy clothes. Money is hardly needed unless you submit to the slavery of this cruel world. The only money that is needed is for those who have fallen so far behind. Example; Africa. Can you imagine what the world would be like if we didn't have money and we all took care of ourselves in a community that consisted of everything you need to stay alive? We are completely capable of this.

You sound as a communist!
Communism refers to a conjectured future classless, stateless social organization based upon common ownership of the means of production, and can be classified as a multivariant branch of the broader socialist movement. Communism also refers to a variety of political movements which claim the establishment of such a social organization as their ultimate goal.

 

[Sprinter]

I think it is ideology that changes the world the most, such as communism, capitalism and Religion.
Individually, I think I just need to work hard to earn more $ to improve my material life, then I'll be happy.

End here today, to be continued.......

 

[clouded.perception]

Sprinter,
In defence of dgood, what is wrong with communism?
Sure, we know it doesn't work in practice, on a large scale, but having a few people who morally follow the basic idea is good for our society.

 

[Sprinter]

The idea of communism is theoretically good, but anyway, you need somebody to MANAGE the wealth, the management will have absolute power and because of human's sinful nature, it will deteriorate into Misappropriation/Embezzlement of power and Corruption will prevail. Look at China, though its economy grows very fast (~9% GDP growth/year), but the corruption is too bad, billions dollar was taken by dirty governors. There are still many many poor people in China, they can't keep pace with modernisation in City like Shanghai. Over the year, you read the news about many coal-miners died in accident, so far no significant protection was ensured for their lives.

 

[Dmstifik8ion]

If I am starving now, I need 10 dollar to buy food, the meaning of 10 dollar is intrinsically important, it is regardless of my mindset about money.

The meaning is determined by your appreciation of the value it has for obtaining with it what you need. If nobody else has respect for the value of your money it will not afford you a morsal of what you need. Money is not the value, it only represents value. Just try surviving on a diet of $100 bills, or bars of gold for that matter. The meaning of a dollar is not defined on a printing press but by the thought and effort of those which produce the value it represents.

 

[loseyourname]

Why is everybody focusing on money? The poor guy just said he wants material well-being. I doubt he's going to lay around in a pile of cash. He's going to spend the money he earns to buy goods and services that do have real value to him; things like a comfortable house, a nice car, regular vacations, good health coverage, food that both nourishes and tastes good, a top education for his kids. What exactly is the problem with this?

One thing I will say is that material well-being by itself is probably not enough to ensure happiness, except possibly in people that are very asocial by nature. Most of us, however, require working and friendly relationships with others, regular interactions extended over a period of time, with at least a few intimate relationships strewn here and there. So don't ignore that. All this stuff generally won't do you much if you have no one to share it with; that's just the nature of our, and really any social, species.

But hey, don't let any self-appointed expert tell you what does or doesn't make you happy. If it's meditation, then meditate. If it's sky-diving, then sky dive. If it's raking in a big payday at the end of every week, then do that. As Joseph Campbell would say, "follow your bliss." Don't let anyone else judge you on whether or not they think what you're doing is of value.

 

[Sprinter]

Most of us, however, require working and friendly relationships with others, regular interactions extended over a period of time, with at least a few intimate relationships strewn here and there. So don't ignore that

Friendship is important too, if you have $$$, surely it is easy to get friends!

 

[Bladibla]

My philosophy? Simple.

No pain, No gain, No brain.

 

[Lewis]

Why is everybody focusing on money? The poor guy just said he wants material well-being. I doubt he's going to lay around in a pile of cash. He's going to spend the money he earns to buy goods and services that do have real value to him; things like a comfortable house, a nice car, regular vacations, good health coverage, food that both nourishes and tastes good, a top education for his kids. What exactly is the problem with this?

Where do you suppose the idea that these things will improve oneself comes from? Surely from your thoughts. Your thoughts are a product of your memories, which are to a very large extent not under your control. I can't help but remmember that catchy tune, or that movie I saw last week.

Now, if your thoughts come from memories, and memories are obviously of the past, how are your suppose to do anything new by thinking of how to do it? Perhaps you don't want to do anything new, you would rather live the life laid out by society--that is one of material possesion. However, I see a need in the world for a change. A VERY large portion of the world is starving, dying of preventible diseases and live without access to what they need to survive. Another significant portion live in fear and misery--they want more and are afraid of not getting it. How can we justify living the opulent lives we live while this is the reality we live in? This is not a question about changing society, you have to change yourself first.

I think the major question here is not what makes you happy, but why it does so.

 

[loseyourname]

Where do you suppose the idea that these things will improve oneself comes from?

Who said anything about improving oneself? He and I just want to be happy. I can't speak for him, but I'd also like to have a happy family.

Perhaps you don't want to do anything new, you would rather live the life laid out by society--that is one of material possesion. However, I see a need in the world for a change.

Good. Then that is what you see yourself needing to do with your life. Go do it, and let the rest of us live our lives. I have no problem with anything you do, so long as you aren't harming anybody, and I guess that's the only difference between you and I. You want people to feel guilty and devote their lives to others. I want people to do whatever it is that does it for them. It isn't the same for you and me, and it isn't the same for the starter of this thread.

A VERY large portion of the world is starving, dying of preventible diseases and live without access to what they need to survive. Another significant portion live in fear and misery--they want more and are afraid of not getting it. How can we justify living the opulent lives we live while this is the reality we live in? This is not a question about changing society, you have to change yourself first.

Damn right it's not a question about changin society, at least not my society. No one in my town is rich, but there is no homelessness or starvation, either, and I don't particularly feel that by going to school and eventually providing for a family, I'm contributing to anybody else's, either. Depriving myself of material well-being isn't going to do any of these starving one damn bit of good. In fact, given the way in which our particular American society has an economy that relies heavily on consumption, it's entirely possible that I might indirectly hurt people by doing so. Frankly, I'm not going to plan for every possible outcome at seven degrees of separation from every one of my actions.

I think the major question here is not what makes you happy, but why it does so.

If you're a psychologist, perhaps. But that certainly wasn't a question raised by the thread. In fact, the gentleman didn't even ask how he should be happy. He said he already knew what would make him happy and simply told us what it is. Not surprisingly, the judgemental masses here at PF come in and tell him his planned life isn't good enough. No, he needs to live the way you want him to live.

 

[dgoodpasture2005]

I guess what I was implying was somewhat communistic, although I did forget to mention that I was referring to societies where no money is involved and we'd all have to realize that we need each other more than we need these materials, and in doing so we'd also realize that we could get along a lot better in this way. Take a step out of these prison bars that hold your perception of reality to a standardized limitation of material and monetary well being. Do you understand why we fight large scale wars now? There's nothing to fight over when we're not in competition of material goods. Any large scale war that has threatened or had a major impact on mankind that you could ever name can be tracked back to a cause of money or material goods. We ARE capable of setting up small communities throughout the world that are self servant to the needs of the people which reside inside them. Bam, in an instant wars vanish, poverty vanishes, almost everything we've ever negatively accomplished in the history of mankind will suddenly stop. The perpetrator of these things that I just mentioned is a reflection of the greed that is within the being, which is a direct manifestation of money and material. What we need is survival, or those who can't, will lose the will to live, and in the process lose all respect for the value of life, and this is precisely what we are seeing today. It's not about value or survival of life today, it's about compeition. Every single aspect of life is now about competition and it's going to boil over soon.

 

[Sprinter]

we'd all have to realize that we need each other more than we need these materials, and in doing so we'd also realize that we could get along a lot better in this way. T

Any large scale war that has threatened or had a major impact on mankind that you could ever name can be tracked back to a cause of money or material goods. We ARE capable of setting up small communities throughout the world that are self servant to the needs of the people which reside inside them.

, it's about compeition. Every single aspect of life is now about competition and it's going to boil over soon.

Yes, we need each other, we are interdependent.
War of course can cause a lot of troubles to people, but a country without war also may have poverty and social injustice, I think the government's policy plays an improtant role to ensure the lives of the people are good.
What makes you to be able to compete? It is your knowledge, skill etc. We can't live without competition, IMO, natural selection is true, our FATE lies on the fact that how good can we compete to survive.
Again, I still insist that in order to be happy, I must have enough money to fullfil my physiological needs! Money can also buy mental/spiritual happiness? Why not? With money, you can buy songs/books/video etc. that are related to your religion/belief, and get indulged in them to be happy.
Why do people feel they are like working machines and have to wake up early to cramp into commuter to go to work and come back to home with tired bodies? Because they need money! Imagine you hit a jackpot and be able to get rid of your job, you're not only financially free, but also spiritually free!
Therefore, I think money is essential for us to get Freedom of mind and body as well.

 

[Sprinter]

I beleive, MONEY can buy FREEDOM.
It is GREED for money that causes problems to us, not money itself.
You know, Money can REALISE your Dreams, for example, the Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett who took on his attempt to become the first person to complete a solo trip around the world in an airplane without making a single stop; why he is able to do so? Because he has money! I may have the same dream, but I am not able to realize it because I have not enough money.

MONEY --------> DREAM + FREEDOM

 

[Dawguard]

Of course we need money, but it is not the money itself that makes us happy. I agree that it is neccesary and extremely helpful, but it itself is not that which brings joy. It is what you do with money that brings happiness. Money does not buy happiness, it is the books you read, the music you listen to, etc. While money is esential for these things, it is not them. The problem we have is that we know money can bring about things that cause happiness, but many people grow so caught up with the pursuit of money they forget that it is a mere key to open up a gateway. This is a very easy trap to fall into, and it leads to disastrous ends. The pursuit of money under the belief that it can cause happiness is hopeless, becuase happiness is brought by what money can bring. Thus rich people who spend their money in all the wrong ways can be horribly depressed, while relatively poor people who know what is important can use a little amount of money to bring about their happiness. Ultimetly it is not the money that causes happiness, but the ability to use it wisely that brings about joy.

 

[dgoodpasture2005]

I beleive, MONEY can buy FREEDOM.
It is GREED for money that causes problems to us, not money itself.
You know, Money can REALISE your Dreams, for example, the Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett who took on his attempt to become the first person to complete a solo trip around the world in an airplane without making a single stop; why he is able to do so? Because he has money! I may have the same dream, but I am not able to realize it because I have not enough money.

MONEY --------> DREAM + FREEDOM

My dream is to live in a world whose residents respect one another, not for the name of their countries, their wealth, or the size of their military... but for the individuals that reside inside this Earth, which should be viewed as one, and not 120+ different individual nations all competing against each other. So my equation would go.

DREAM-----------> NO MONEY + TRUE FREEDOM = FREE OF THE GREEN PAPER SLAVEMASTER. Of course this is just a dream, we're so far into money now, there may be no way to reverse the effects. Difference of opinions. Think about it from two or three different perspectives, not just one, you can't get anywhere that way... you just stay "yourself". You can self educate yourself in philosophy by viewing things from different peoples shoes/perspectives. Once you do, you can choose which shoes fit you best. I guess we have to agree to disagree here. No worries... our lives go on :)
Logically... Like Einstein would say... you can't solve a problem with the same thinking(reasons) that got you there in the first place. If we give everyone money.. it just compounds the problem. The problem is within us. It's our emotions. We'll all figure this out in the near future. I'm not predicting... I'm just using reason and logic. It's easy to see these things. It's all I study. Our emotions ARE independent of money. Try it. Smile when you're crying, get mad while you're happy. You're in full control of everything.

 

[clouded.perception]

Good on you, sprinter!
The modern method of controlling a child's greed is to temper it with guilt. This makes sense before the child is old enough to develop a proper understanding of value and consequence, but it seems to give people the idea that there is something automatically bad about wanting money.

Money gives security. Money makes you an asset (through taxes) to your country. Money gives you the power to help others. And money does help some people enjoy life.

Money isn't for everyone, but it's good to hear from someone who has identified that money will make his/her life easier and isn't irrationally ashamed to go for it.