In class on Wednesday, the group “therapy”, as Chris called it, was an interesting discussion. Someone sharing their own personal life and beliefs with the class about their future led to further ideas about life. Life itself seems to be boring and dull at times because as college students, all we’re doing is going to school and work throughout the week. It’s just a repetitive routine until graduation day. After graduation, what comes next…?
Deciding what to do with life after graduation is a difficult decision for many people. Not knowing what to do is one of the scariest things. With all of the 16+ years spent on school, it’s frustrating being lost on what to do with life. Everyone has a different view on life, so they’ll adjust their lifestyle to pursue happiness. Sometimes people try, but they can’t attain happiness. The American culture has become a materialistic driven country. So everything always comes down to money. All they want is money, money, money. In order to make money they have to work ridiculous hours within a week. People are making huge amounts of money, but they don’t have any time to spend it or take a lovely vacation to Hawaii. Whether it’s being a doctor, a dentist, or a CEO and making lots of money, they aren’t able to take one week vacations to relax at the beach, mountains, or whatever the desired place might be. So money is just racking up, and by the time retirement comes they’re too old to do all the fun and exciting activities that require physical strength.
On the other hand, there are some people who are able to pursue happiness. They work jobs that are enjoyable, but at the same time they have time to relax and get pleasure from life. The pleasures may result from skydiving, parasailing, bungee jumping, hiking, or traveling. These people probably think, “Why work fifty or sixty hours a week where you can’t take a nice little vacation?”. It’s hard to explore all the wonderful things in life and be happy when the entire week is taken up by work. Many people are so focused on money that they forget about happiness. What’s more important? Money or happiness?
2 comments:
I agree with you that all we talk about is money. However, I don't see spending money as a way of happiness. Sure, I love shopping and eating out with friends and family, but money is just an incentive for people to work and brighten the world's future for the next generations. To pursue happiness, I would just watch chat with friends, go for a jog, cook a family meal. True, we do have to spend money to pursue happiness, but spending money on extravagant products is not a way to pursue happiness. To make this point simpler, money does not equal happiness, but in the process to pursue our dreams, money is an essential material used in the process.
When you say: "The American culture has become a materialistic driven country."—I'm not sure about this. What would it mean to be *really* materialistic—in a serious sense? Wouldn't this mean that we would take our material seriously, rather than throw it away or simply 'consume' it? I like what Carol adds in her comment, but I wonder about the limits of money as a "material"—is money really 'essential', or is it in fact extra, added on to the materials that actually *do* seem to make people 'happy'? In other words, can we imagine 'economies' without money, and might these economies get closer to the 'essence' of material? I'm getting abstract...but I guess I wonder about a serious materialism that would not be mediated by money. Does this make sense?
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