Money, Happiness, and “the American Dream”

After reading “How to Buy Happiness: by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norman i came to comprehend their opinion on happiness, money and “the american dream”. The article states “how we use are money may matter as much or more than how much of it we’ve got”. This statement is true, if you think about it, alot of people believe and say money makes you happy or money buys you happiness but in reality it does not. Its more like what we choose to do with the money that’s what makes us happy. The articles says “a growing body of reaserch shows that the mere whiff of money draws out our selfish sides”. This is true in many occasions, many people have betrayed their close friends and family for just a couple of bucks. With just a bit of money coming towards them many people become selfish without noticing. In addition if you notice as soon as one gets paid we want to spoil ourselves with material things. As i read the article i asked my friend what she would do with one million dollars and with no hesitation she replied “move out”. This as addition to evidence from the article shows that when we have money we think about our wants confusing them with what we need, we dont think about what we could do for others as our first priority. My friend like many other people want the “american dream” of buying there own land or house, but we dont care to see that the land or house will only be temprary happiness. The article states “Dozens of studies show that people get more happiness from buying experiences than from buying material things”. The article supports this by saying that these experiences “makes us who we are” and i suppor it by saying that sharing wonderful experiences  that we can later remember is way much better than buying something that can break. As you see the diffrence is alot, material happiness is only temporary while experiences can last a life time. Many people want to live ” the american dream” and buy a house with luxurius things but even the wealthiest man with the ideal house can not be as happy as a regular citezen renting an apartment. The difference is enjoying money or things with others will make you happier than wasting your money on things you would enjoy more yourself.

Can money buy happiness ??

In the article ” How to buy Happiness ” ,  written by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton , explains how now in days if people were to find a million dollars most people would quickly think of themselves. In other words  having access to this amount of money can bring the worst out in people, it would make them selfish without that individual even having any remorse. Studies have been conducted that support this statement for example ,behavioral scientist have showned that material goods do not give people happiness . Also most americans continue to see buying a house is the american dream in other words the happiest thing one can do in their lives .But research shows that in actuality it brings little happiness .

This article reminds me of the song “price tag” by Jessie j , in the song it describes money isn’t everything its about love . Just like the article its states people have in increase in happiness with buying experience than experiential purchasing . Which I totally agree with because in my experience I have more happiness making memories by the experiences that I have with those I love than to go ,say shopping, all by my lonesome self.