It seems like these days people can find funding to study just about anything. The Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton University released a study which indicates that people without a lot of financial resources aren't as happy nor feel as successful as individuals with far more financial resources. What a discovery! I'm dumbfounded (that someone needed to conduct a study to figure that out).
Could it be that a lot of these people have no health insurance? Without health insurance, it's very difficult to receive preventive care to keep in tip top shape. Little problems have a way of mushrooming into much larger and more serious problems. Add to this the stress of the realization that one medical crisis would bankrupt you and it's hard to go skipping down merry lane.
Could it be that a lot of these people do not make a living wage? Trying to figure out month-to-month which bills you'll pay and which you'll let slide certainly adds to a person's stress level. It's even worse when you must hold down two jobs (assuming you can find a job at all!) simply to make ends meet. By the time you come home from your day of toil, you don't have the energy to enjoy life.
Could it be that a lot of these people are drowning in debt? Many people of limited financial means were suckered into obtaining credit cards and purchasing homes that they couldn't afford. Now, with the economy headed into the deep south, they are being hauled into court and/or thrown out into the streets. Not a good recipe for happiness there.
Could it be that they live in a culture that measures the worth of each person by the amount of money you have in the bank and the number of needless personal possessions you own? Despite the economic depression, advertisers certainly haven't let up. We're still being told that the kind of car we drive or the kinds of clothes we wear signal to others who we really are. When you don't have the money to pay your regular bills, let alone useless crap, it causes a lot of people to question there own self-worth!
What this study tells me is something I already knew: Our society has its priorities all screwed up!!!
They say money can't buy happiness. They're wrong.Hmm. Let's see if we might be able to figure out why poor people are less happy.
At least up to a point.
People's emotional well-being — happiness — increases along with their income up to about $75,000, researchers report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
For folks making less than that, said Angus Deaton, an economist at the Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton University, "Stuff is so in your face it's hard to be happy. It interferes with your enjoyment."
Deaton and Daniel Kahneman reviewed surveys of 450,000 Americans conducted in 2008 and 2009 for the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index that included questions on people's day-to-day happiness and their overall life satisfaction.
Happiness got better as income rose but the effect leveled out at $75,000, Deaton said. On the other hand, their overall sense of success or well-being continued to rise as their earnings grew beyond that point...
Could it be that a lot of these people have no health insurance? Without health insurance, it's very difficult to receive preventive care to keep in tip top shape. Little problems have a way of mushrooming into much larger and more serious problems. Add to this the stress of the realization that one medical crisis would bankrupt you and it's hard to go skipping down merry lane.
Could it be that a lot of these people do not make a living wage? Trying to figure out month-to-month which bills you'll pay and which you'll let slide certainly adds to a person's stress level. It's even worse when you must hold down two jobs (assuming you can find a job at all!) simply to make ends meet. By the time you come home from your day of toil, you don't have the energy to enjoy life.
Could it be that a lot of these people are drowning in debt? Many people of limited financial means were suckered into obtaining credit cards and purchasing homes that they couldn't afford. Now, with the economy headed into the deep south, they are being hauled into court and/or thrown out into the streets. Not a good recipe for happiness there.
Could it be that they live in a culture that measures the worth of each person by the amount of money you have in the bank and the number of needless personal possessions you own? Despite the economic depression, advertisers certainly haven't let up. We're still being told that the kind of car we drive or the kinds of clothes we wear signal to others who we really are. When you don't have the money to pay your regular bills, let alone useless crap, it causes a lot of people to question there own self-worth!
What this study tells me is something I already knew: Our society has its priorities all screwed up!!!
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