Does money make life worth living?

[GimpSpack]

Money = freedom. Freedom for me = happiness.

"How much money" is sometimes less than you think you need, and sometimes it is more than you think you need.

I actually posted this exact thought on my FB wall a while back...

Strangely enough, someone had the balls to try and lecture me with something along the lines of, "Money doesn't make you happy, I think you're focussing on money too much, blah blah blah." Mind you, all I wrote was "Money = Freedom. Don't ever forget that."

It's funny, but I don't think that many people value real freedom (or anything close to real freedom). I think as long as they can watch their favorite TV shows, buy their favorite IPA, and get hammered on the weekends, they're straight. The confines of a 9-5 appeal to them, because they've been conditioned since birth to operate within rigid structures. I frequently ask friends, strangers, and co-workers what they'd do if they didn't have to work a day job, and no one can give me a solid answer. They either go, "Uhhhhh... never thought of that before..." Or my favorite, "I wouldn't know what to do with myself, so I think a job is good for me. I would get depressed with all the free time."

For some reason, that frightens me.

 

[LovelyServices]

Money is one of the most important factor in life. Money makes life easy.

 

[dmnEPC]

Without money, how will you keep score?

 

[InternetAuthor]

It's funny, but I don't think that many people value real freedom (or anything close to real freedom). I think as long as they can watch their favorite TV shows, buy their favorite IPA, and get hammered on the weekends, they're straight. The confines of a 9-5 appeal to them, because they've been conditioned since birth to operate within rigid structures. I frequently ask friends, strangers, and co-workers what they'd do if they didn't have to work a day job, and no one can give me a solid answer. They either go, "Uhhhhh... never thought of that before..." Or my favorite, "I wouldn't know what to do with myself, so I think a job is good for me. I would get depressed with all the free time."

For some reason, that frightens me.

I just took my seniors through Brave New World. If you've never read it, you should. It shows how easily the government can control people not through fear and intimidation, but by giving them everything they desire and conditioning them to not desire anything they can't have.

A consumer-driven society ruled by pleasure, a lack of morals and close relationships, and the governmental control of people through conditioning, controlled messages, propaganda and, of course, drug use. Incidentally, the book was written in 1932. That alone blew some minds in the classroom.

 

[shindig]

I just took my seniors through Brave New World. If you've never read it, you should. It shows how easily the government can control people not through fear and intimidation, but by giving them everything they desire and conditioning them to not desire anything they can't have.

A consumer-driven society ruled by pleasure, a lack of morals and close relationships, and the governmental control of people through conditioning, controlled messages, propaganda and, of course, drug use. Incidentally, the book was written in 1932. That alone blew some minds in the classroom.

Did you tell them how huxley left this world? Dying of cancer he had his wife inject him with 2 syringes of LSD straight into the blood stream

Another great book related to brave new world is "Amusing ourselves to death" from 1985 by Neil Postman. I turned my philosopher friend onto it when I was reading it and it was so crazy. It's a dense read but just spot on. Amusing Ourselves to Death - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[efeezy]

Money doesn't necessarily make life worth living in my opinion. Living and experiencing life, and enjoying your time on this planet with friends, your kids & family, that's what makes my existence here worth it. Now, unfortunately money is just a tool to make a lot of this stuff happen.

I'm fortunate enough to be typing this in my nice home in California, with a couple nice vehicles in the driveway and my wife & kids have everything they want/need (well, more or less). All that being a byproduct of money. It's a necessary evil in the equation. I have no need for boats, Bentley's, or jewelry. Shit, I don't even own a watch. I've had more and I've had a hell of a lot less, but let me say that when you don't have to worry about how much money is in the checking account, and if you have enough money to buy groceries and pay the mortgage, life is a lot less stressful. It's just one less thing to worry about (didn't Forest Gump say that).

I could give up all of the material shit in a second, but when you have a family it's a totally different ball game. Having money to provide for them is what makes me happy. I don't want them to want for anything, plus I get a hell of a rush from finding new ways to make a paycheck. I want my kids education to be paid for before they're in high school. I want my house paid off in the next 5 years. Then I can just do whatever the hell I want to do and money is even less of a concern.

And in the end when my time on this rock is done, I'd like to have a little something to leave to them, to help make their life a little easier. It's pretty simple really.