What's more important, financial wealth or well being?

I think this is one of the major issues our culture is currently wrestling with. Due to the great depression (in my opinion) the WW2 generation instilled into their children that being financially stable and aggressively so was one of the most important parts of being an adult. Due to this the preceding generations saught financial riches above all else.

With the rise of suicide, the opioid epidemic and social justice we can see that 1 thing is apparent... people aren't happy.

But what is it that's creating this paradigm?

Analysis not my own

Baby boomers were raised on the brick-and-mortar philosophy of productivity: if you’re at your desk, you’re working.

Boomers have been raised by the WW2 generation who experienced the great depression were raised on work ethic and sacrifice to create a bigger bank account and retire wealthy. Wealth is very important to them and they have a very Asian perspective on success, either you're successful or your a loser.

According to a recent About.com article, many in this generation display a casual disdain for authority and structured work hours, dislike being micro-managed, and embrace a hands-off management philosophy. This resourcefulness has led them, as a generation, to excel in the workplace by putting in the hours while maintaining a reasonable work-life balance, unlike their Boomer predecessors.

As America became more comfortable benefiting the fruits of the labor of being the world's manufacturing base after the destruction of Europe they took a more casual approach. Also, with mom and dad at the workplace constantly working and ignoring their family for more money the were more independent.

Millenials encompass those 20-somethings who are well-educated and well-groomed with near universal positive reinforcement from authority figures.

Obviously the article is unfavorable to Millennial's as usual Millennial's tend to value performing work that means something to them more than they value the amount of money they gain.

I'm not posting this as a hit on any generation but rather to display the difference between the 3 and their value structures. Obviously the answer is balance is the key to happiness but let's dig a little deeper.

With much of mainstream culturing centering around your bling, the money you make and how many women you can f*** in a week (or vice cersa) it's no wonder people are miserable. The total atomization of American culture in pursuit of financial wealth over all else has brought us to a place with no one is happy, we have no culture other than make money and although more connected... people feel more disconnected than ever.

a reply to: toysforadults

I think being financially wealthy is better than well being. That way when I am about to pass away and my family think they will inherit anything they will be upset to realize that I donated everything to my local fire departs to do as they wish. HEHE That has been my plan since I was 18

a reply to: toysforadults



Money/wealth buys power not happiness......

People dont realise the satisfaction of a job, any job which has been done well.

Who needs more than two or three suits? you can only wear one at a time .....

A small car, or even a bike will get you to where you want to go, a 4x4 gas guzzler

is not a necessity.

No one needs a yacht, you can go on a cruise (if you work for it?)

Money will not let you live longer than healthy living?

Then when you die who ever gets your money that you killed yourself for will only

squander it.

a reply to: eletheia

I agree with all most of what you besides the very beginning and the part about owning a yacht. Yes I can take a cruise but I can’t hunt fish with a gun on a cruise while a speedo. I believe that may be a happiness that money can buy.

a reply to: toysforadults

Personally it depends on the definition of wealthy or healthy.

80 years ago doctors were very wealthy people, so were shop owners. They still do well in society but how many doctor's can retire at 30 or literally take 5 years off work?

As for health/wellbeing, nothing much has changed. I guess awareness is up and less people use alcohol to mask problems... Suicide was just as prevalent 100 years ago as it is today.

Consumerism has a big role to play in today's world, stardom too. In my parent's day a footballer (soccer) would work a 9 to 5 job somewhere in town, these days the earn a year's worth of wage in a week.

When my mother was a kid she was well fed, had clean clothes etc, she had to finish every meal put down to her and sweets were a treat.

That's what was important, today?

Things are a lot different, to answer your question though.

Wellbeing. Wealth can be gained, your health is something that isn't easy to get back once it erodes, physical or mental.

We could be here all day debating on this topic, variation or moderation? Health or wealth? Entertainment on demand or waiting 6 months to save up and see someone live on stage.

Lot's to consider.

I think the major problem we are facing today is people are getting farther and farther away from reality. Technology has given us the chance to kind of ignore reality and we are making stuff up that just isn't true. Those comforting lies we tell ourselves aren't harmless, they are destructive.

We are seeing the results more and more. Perversions. Transgenders. Suicides. Shootings/killings. It is all from the same source.

But we are years away from recognizing this. We have a lot farther to fall before we wake up. Will we be stronger for it in the end? I have a strange suspicion that we will be better off for going through that pain.

Wealth is just a tool. Neither good nor bad. It is up to the individual to decide how they will apply it to their life. Now if you were to ask from the point of view of an undisciplined fool, I would say poverty would serve them much better than wealth. Poverty teaches valuable lessons that you just don't get anywhere else. I am forever grateful to have grown up poor and had poor parents that still knew how to enjoy life and appreciate the small, important things in life.

They often seem to be interlinked.

Good organic food costs a lot more than regular frankenfoods, you can take off more time and go on longer vacations to rest the mind if you got a nest egg, etc.

originally posted by: Allaroundyou
a reply to: toysforadults

I think being financially wealthy is better than well being. That way when I am about to pass away and my family think they will inherit anything they will be upset to realize that I donated everything to my local fire departs to do as they wish. HEHE That has been my plan since I was 18

???
That sounds loving of you.
I am certain you make your children wake up blessed in knowing you are there for them.

originally posted by: ClovenSky
We are seeing the results more and more. Perversions. Transgenders. Suicides. Shootings/killings. It is all from the same source.

All of which has existed forever, but now is actually less and less...just reported more and brought to awareness.

TGs is perhaps more simply because we now have the technology to alter people without them looking like a hidious drag queen...so people are now taking the leap, but since the dawn of recorded history, you always had very feminine men / masculine women.

a reply to: SaturnFX

So you are saying that we are just as screwed up as a human race as we were 100 years ago? That the only reason this feels different is because it is being reported on more and in greater detail?

So all of the stories of general dissatisfaction with life and personal discontentment is just in our heads? If pharmaceuticals were available back then, people would be abusing/hooked on them at the same percentage as we are today?

This is all an awareness issue? We are not worse off today compared to yesteryear?

originally posted by: bulwarkz

originally posted by: Allaroundyou
a reply to: toysforadults

I think being financially wealthy is better than well being. That way when I am about to pass away and my family think they will inherit anything they will be upset to realize that I donated everything to my local fire departs to do as they wish. HEHE That has been my plan since I was 18

???
That sounds loving of you.
I am certain you make your children wake up blessed in knowing you are there for them.

If I did have kids or a wife I may feel differently but I also made the decision long ago to not ever do that. As of right now the only thing that would change my mind is if I was the last to carry on my bloodline. But I am only 30yo so things could change. But I love my life and never have anyone nagging me about crap besides my mom who often times likes to show up at my home unannounced just to hang out. Which is fine I guess. Hell I have a man cave and live on my own. Life is good for me.

originally posted by: RAY1990

When my mother was a kid she was well fed, had clean clothes etc, she had to finish every meal put down to her and sweets were a treat.

Lol!! That is still a possibility ....... The primary school that my daughters

two children went to had an 'olde sweet shop' right next door to the

entrance,which every day was crowded with children and their parents buying

'sweeties' her two never ever got into that shop......


It never harmed them

The old saying, "if you don't have your health, you have nothing" was big when I was growing up.

I'm taking "well-being" as an overall attitude in one's life. That would include Health and wealth, imo.

Not crazy rich but a decent income to debt ratio. Happy at home, work and social life.

No one in the family is seriously ill etc.

It's harder than it sounds. Life always finds a wrench to throw at you.

To everyone's health and well-being!

a reply to: toysforadults

My grandfather grew up during the Great Depression, and sadly never learned to read. This did not stop him from succeeding financially. What he lacked in literacy, he made up for in mechanical genius. He had the kind of mind that could reverse engineer and modify anything you put in front of him.

However, I think partly because of his childhood environment and illiteracy, he grew to value the accumulation of material things over anything else in his life. Within his lifetime, he accumulated so much junk that we've been working together to get rid of it for almost a year now.

In general, the past generations have tended towards materialism, and millennials are now seeing that materialism should not be our priority. I think a healthy and stable middle ground between prosperity and wellbeing (physical and psychological) can be achieved and maintained if you make your spiritual life your priority. In my case, that means making God my number one priority, and so far, He has blessed me in so many ways.

Financial wealth brings well being. After you're set, you're set!

a reply to: eletheia

Hehe.

My school tried everything to stop such things, replace sweets in vending machines with healthy stuff, it's hard to fight... The hour after dinner was often the hardest for teachers.

Sugar rush!

I was skinny as hell as a kid, ate loads of junk but I was buying it with money from paper rounds, other kids? They got fat, too much junk food and not enough exercise. Parents enabled it.

Treats were always treats till I developed a bit of financial freedom, I was never spoilt rotten, got everything I needed though.

I guess it's difficult to parent and be a friend. It's no wonder why governments are being heavy on sugar and the diets of kids. Sad really.

a reply to: 4003fireglo

I can't agree with you, a clothes designer killed herself recently in New York, this lady was minted... Sold her business a few years ago for billions.

Yet she isn't with us anymore, money doesn't buy happiness or well-being, not necessarily.

Do poor people look happy?

a reply to: Bluntone22

Do you make room for a distinction between "poor" and "not financially wealthy"?

a reply to: toysforadults

Born in the late 60's here...

My take on it: Money is fine. I'm productive and doing something I enjoy, but it's not lucrative. I make a decent enough living but I'm not getting rich. It's fine with me. I have a 30 minute commute to work, but if I wanted to save $500 or more in rent/mortgage I could trade that for an hour long commute.

In the end, it's really about what makes a person happy. I'm happy with my job. I'm happy with the neighborhood I live in. I'm happy that I don't normally have a long commute.

Every day I see people that hate their jobs, hate their lives, hate their commutes....but they are making money hand over fist. It's not worth it, if you ask me.