Agellon 1

Jasmine agellon
Professor Kufs
English 114B
16 February 2016

More Money, More Problems

Do you depend on money to make your life whole? In most cases money is a powerful
thing and when consumers use it to buy new items, a sense of satisfaction is released upon us.
What people do not realize that behind all of this is that humans have become conflicted on the
idea of having the newest or best objects can or cannot make one truly happy. In The Funds,
Friends, and Faith of Happy People, David Myers speaks about the happiness that money brings
upon people whereas Lethal Consumption Materialism: Death-Denying Materialism,
explained by Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, and Thomas A. Pyszczynski that money does
not bring happiness, but a change of mortality. In my opinion, I believe that happiness is based
on ones perspective, happiness can be found in multiple aspects in our lives and money can be
one, this can control your whole mindset due to certain circumstances that can occur in your life.
In The Funds, Friends and Faith of Happy People, David G. Myers states There is, we
believe, some connection between wealth and well-being. (15) We have learned over time that
money has been a great asset to our lives, but can having too much cause us to develop a sense of
power, a power that causes problems? I agree with Myers because with such amount of money it
can change what you feel makes you happy. From a personal experience I have found myself

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going from wanting to must have. Ever since I was little my mom has taught me to understand
what are wants and what are needs in life, coming to college has made that a difficult
controversy to myself on what is a want and need.
Being a new college student I have discovered the difficulty that money has control on
ones well-being. I was always careful with money knowing what not to buy and want essentials
are necessary, but I have found myself buying things now that I know that I could not and would
not have bought without permission in the past. I am able now to make my own decisions as a
young adult on how my money is spent and having the money available in my name or you can
say having money in the palm of my hands, is a power I never thought I could feel. I have
spent money on shoes, clothing, food, and etc. and I have found myself spending money on these
objects to feel better. Buying new things has gave me a sense of joy, but later I find myself
regretting on how much I have spent. I have spent without realizing what that money could have
put to better use or even saved for. I was just indulged on what feeling I felt when I purchased
new items, it could also be possible that I have developed a mindset that I can purchase
possessions without anyone denying my want. We have develop a sense of accomplishment
when purchasing an object that we have been waiting for or see people have and wish we could
have it just like them.
David Myers says, If enduring personal happiness generally does not rise with personal
affluence, does collective happiness float upward with rising economic tide.(19) Money and
consumption of possessions can come a personal outlook, we see the new trends of the world
which bring us to a decision making on ones self of if they really want/need that object.
Happiness is needed in this life time and now it is what money can buy you or how much you
have to feel a sense of satisfaction that you have money. We fall for the influential trends that our

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society has made us think we need, if it is from being rich or looking rich to show a sense of
class and also could be from seeing a trend that you must fit into because it is something you
want to be a part of. Money will always be there, but for how long will the happiness be there
that it provided?
Lethal Consumption has a different outlook on what money truly is. The authors of this
have gave us three outlooks of what money does, the first one the value of golds developed by
the connection to life giving myths, second example pertains to the connections the priesthood
and money, then the last one is the concerns the contemporary worlds dominant currency, the
dollar bill of United States. Understanding the readings of the authors explanation on what
money is I can see where they are coming from and I see what they mean by that money has
changed on what is truly important to the world. In Money: The New Ideology of Immortality the
authors write So God isnt dead after all: God has metamorphosized into money and
materialism in contemporary society, (79) and that is exactly what I see on what money has
done to us. They mention September 11, 2001 and how that in a tragedy that we the people
completely over looked the devastation because, We could not let the terrorists achieve the
objective of frightening our nation to the point we dont conduct business, where people dont
shop. I can see from multiple occurrences on how money has truly done to us, I know money
does not bring true happiness to ones well-being, but we use it cover up the lows of our lives.
What I see personally is that some of us over think about the future, we become greedy
not to be happy but a fear of a loss of yourself. We think that life can come to an end at any time
and that is what is implanted in our heads that soon our name will be gone and how will anyone
remember you? Instead of thinking that inanimate objects can bring happiness others get
intimidated at the thought of death that is when money comes into play on becoming a sense of

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safety. This has caused so much panic or disturbance to the worlds outlook of everything, we
look for a safety net to protect ourselves from the evil the world provides that most react so
heavily. Studies by Koole and van den Berg showed that mortality salience increases peoples
preferences for scenes of cultivated nature. We decide as person on what money do to ourselves
and how it can affect us emotionally and physically, we all developed an outlook of what money
truly is, either it brings you happiness or sadness.
Money is power, it has developed heavily in our culture that so many occurrences in our
lives depended on it. It can determine your happiness, how you look at yourself at the end of the
day or even in the world we use money to protect ourselves and we do not stop making money
because of tragedies, money does not stop for anything. To answer the question, Does money
bring happiness? Money will always be in our lives and I feel money does not bring happiness
but I do believe that it gives you a sense of control and serenity when in possession. Money has
taken over everything, it is a way of living now without it the world we the people would not
know what to do with ourselves. The dollar bill says, In God we trust, but it is money we
depend on.

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