Does being rich give you freedom?

1. 81

   Don Wposted 14 years ago

   It gives you more free time and more choice, but is free time and choice really freedom?

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      Kadmielsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      haveing the stress of not haveing to worry daily about bills collecting and rent being paid then the freedom to find way to express your self differntly is interesting to think about

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      Bredaviesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      To me it Depends.
      
      Now yes money does give you freedom. You have more places ago, You have many to change what you don't like, etc. Money does rule the world.
      
      But it has a hold on people. With it comes to ethics and the deeper meaning money enslaves us all.

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      darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Freedom can mean many things. Free time and choice can be two definitions of freedom.

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         Don Wposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         See what you mean, but doesn't the attachment to free time and choice restrict you, in the sense that your actions become centred on maintaining them?
         
         Could you give all your money away once you'd become rich, assuming you're not already? Once you'd experienced the relief earnestshub and LondonGirl mention, could you go back to where you where before? Or would the attachment to the benefits of being rich stop you?
         
         You have free time, you have choice, but your actions are now restricted by your attachment to those things. Is that freedom, or have you just removed the bars of your old cage and replaced them with a set of gilded ones?

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   4. 68

      ledefensetechposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Depends on where you live.  If you live in a socialist country, you won't have to worry about being rich for very much longer.  They accomplish that by taking away your freedom.  So yes, having more money gives you more choices and having more choices is the definition f freedom.  Therefore money is freedom.

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      Drew Breezzyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Yes it all really depends on how you get your wealth and how you deal with it.

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2. 0

   Madame Xposted 14 years ago

   Is this a trick question?

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      CabinGirlposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Lol I was about to say that, dumbasses !

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3. 67

   marshall92posted 14 years ago

   Freedom from what? What do you consider freedom? I guess it is a matter of opinion.

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      Don Wposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      And the opinions do vary.
      
      For me freedom is having an inner peace that's not affected by poverty or wealth or even incarceration. It's not freedom of movement or freedom of choice, it's freedom from attachment to . . . whatever.
      
      Trying to progress in all ways, but not being attached to progression or lack of. Being able to look at a life with a sense of love and wonder, regardless of how rich or poor you are. For me freedom is unalterable peace.
      
      If only I knew a way to actually achieve that.

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   annvansposted 14 years ago

   Well...first I have to be rich in order to answer the question.  So if someone doesn't mind making me rich, I will be glad to help you out with this question.  lol.

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5. 76

   Dangazzmposted 14 years ago

   Free to explore things that truly make you happy... Although they say money comes with power and power corrupts leading to a unhappy life.. Although thats kind of off topic.
   
   If I was rich I would just invest skip out of writing or doing anything and probably play games 9/10 of the days and go on vacations once a year in an attempt to see everything.

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6. 62

   Lisa HWposted 14 years ago

   Sure, being very wealthy gives you freedom (unless you're incarcerated for some reason; but even then, it can buy you the best legal representation available, thereby increasing your chances of buying you freedom from prison as well.    ).

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7. 81

   Uninvited Writerposted 14 years ago

   Being rich gives you the option of doing what you want. I would spend my days writing and travelling also. I wouldn't expect that it would solve all of my problems but I sure would like to find out if it would help...

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   Anti-Valentineposted 14 years ago

   Funny, some say that it's lonely being at the top, and being rich means you will be hated by a lot of people, but the hard working people, usually hairdressers in my experience- don't know why, say that they would love to be rich.

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9. 0

   pgrundyposted 14 years ago

   I think it gives you more choices in terms of what you do with your time. I don't think it frees you from emotional messes, confusion, mistakes, bad relationships, or any of the other things that seem to make people feel upset and unhappy. When I worked in landscaping I worked mostly for rich people (who else can afford to pay landscapers????) and they didn't strike me as being any happier than any other group of human beings, just better dressed, better cars--more demanding maybe.

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      rednckwmnposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      funny, my husband has had several jobs. the least paying is his landscaping job. and its his favourite. He sees angry, bossy, uptight rich landowners day in and day out. He gets to spend his days outside, doing something he enjoys, and most days comes home filthy, exahusted, poor and happy.
      More money can equal less bills, but in my experience, people spend what they have. More money does not mean a good attitude towards life.

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10. 64

    Lady_Eposted 14 years ago

    Like Marshall said, how do you define Freedom?
    
    I think being rich can give you freedom cos you can't be boxed into situations, the money will bail you out.

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    zampanoposted 14 years ago

    weak flesh & bone we are...
    spirits have more chances to be high when you don't have to worry about how you are goind to pay yours taxes...

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12. 74

    sparksdaniel2000posted 14 years ago

    Yes and no..being rich gives you more control...freedom is somewhat fleeting but with the right circle of servants...i mean people, one can achieve freedom with wealth.

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13. 59

    Colebabieposted 14 years ago

    Being able to do what you want is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.
    
    So to a certain extent money can let you do certain things.

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       mtsi1098posted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I agree...

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14. 60

    Jane@CMposted 14 years ago

    Define rich, in number's please.  Are we talking over a million a year?

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    1. 81

       Don Wposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       The oxford English dictionary defines it as "having a great deal of money or assets". What "a great deal" means is anyone's guess.
       
       dictionary.com defines it as "abundantly supplied with resources, means, or funds", then defines abundant as "great quantity".
       
       Seems it's not quantifiable objectively. The actual numbers depend on too many variables, not least of which is where you are in the world. A rich man in Nairobi, may not be very rich in New York.
       
       I think most people would consider themselves rich financially if:
       
       1) they have more than enough money to pay for the necessities of life
       2) they have enough money to buy whatever are considered "luxury goods" in their part of the world.

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15. 80

    LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

    A certain level of wealth does give you various freedoms.
    
    Freedom from worrying about feeding your family, housing them, clothing them, etc.
    
    And freedom from worrying about emergencies - the car conking out, the boiler blowing up, the roof falling off the house, all the rest of it. the background knowledge that you can put your hand in your pocket and sort any of these things out without bothering about it too much gives a freedom from worrying about money.
    
    And there is the freedom to explore, not to work hard at a boring job you loathe, the freedom to travel, experience new things, go to the theatre / ballet / opera (whatever floats your boat).
    
    Those are kinds of freedoms, I think.

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    earnestshubposted 14 years ago

    I have been both rich and poor in my life. I did not notice any change in my happiness level, but the loss of stress is wonderful when you can afford, as London Girl said, to pay for what you need in your day to day living.

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    1. 81

       Don Wposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I'd describe that as being comfortable rather than rich. Being rich I think is not only when you can afford the necessaries, but also luxuries.
       
       Being able to afford flying to anywhere in the world, whenever you want is a luxury for most people. Is it freedom or just a freedom of sorts?

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    LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

    I agree. There are a couple of great quotes that spring to mind - "money can't buy love, but it can rent it for a while", and "money doesn't buy happiness, but you can choose the kind of misery you like best"

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    awsydneyposted 14 years ago

    Money does not necessarily buy freedom or happiness. Richness in financial wealth comes with more responsibility.
    
    Bill Gates may be the richest man in the world but he may not have the freedom to walk around any beach in his swimmers like normal folk.
    
    What we need is to seek balance between wealth, health and happiness.

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19. 61

    deestewposted 14 years ago

    I imagine it depends on how you became rich.

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       kephriraposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I agree, a lot of really rich people got that way by being obssessed with making money and by working 60+ hours per week, and you don't just change your whole personality after you get rich so a lot of them just keep spending their whole life making more andmore money even though they don't need it. I wouldn't say those people are free.

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20. 0

    ralwusposted 14 years ago

    Are there any rich people here who can answer this? and what I mean by Rich is one who can at a whim pay $65,000 per night for a suite in the world's most expensive hotel. Or even $20,000 per night at the low end.

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21. 0

    ralwusposted 14 years ago

    I don't know, there is a feller in CA living free, in a cave. He  works not and feeds bedbugs in the night. he has no money and gave up our way of living. But is he truly free? He eats out of garbage cans and with handouts. He claims he is better off than when he was in society as we all are paying taxes and such.

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       ledefensetechposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Honestly, if that's how he wants to live, let him.  Apparently he meets all of his needs and his wants, the only difference is he does it in such a way that most people would not. So long as he isn't forced to live like that, what's the problem?

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       Don Wposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Sounds like Nick Nolte in down and out in Beverley Hills. Love that film.

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22. 73

    someonewhoknowsposted 14 years ago

    I wouldn't mind living in a self sufficient community that worked together for the common good as well as doing somethings that each of us have a personal interest in.

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       Don Wposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       You're not alone in that.

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       ledefensetechposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Good luck with that, most communes don't tend to last for long. At least not those that don't have a rule about people working. Unless there's some way to get people to work, most communes tend to fall apart pretty quickly.
       
       Personally, if I wanted to do something like that, I'd look at an organization set up something like the Shakers or Amish or Mennonites. Those are cooperative communities that tend to do very well, you might profit by studying how they do that.

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          someonewhoknowsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          I Remmember the story of the mother hen trying to get all the other animals to help her with the baking of bread.They all had excuses as to why they could help,and when it came time to eat the bread they all wanted some.

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             ledefensetechposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             Bingo. In the end, it doesn't really matter what economic system you use, you pretty much get what you deserve. You can only break the laws of economics for so long, before the consequences come back and bite you in the rear end. The big problem is, sometimes you can avoid those consequences for decades. Look at all of the misery and death the Soviet Union went through, before their people finally had enough.

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23. 81

    Don Wposted 14 years ago

    We might all be living in cooperative communities one day. The current mode of living, i.e. rampant consumerism is looking pretty bankrupt (pun intended).

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24. 0

    isis_dreams2002posted 14 years ago

    I would say it would give you the freedom on not worrying about paying your bill or rent but at the end of the day you are still the same person so you would probably do the same things as you would always do but you would also help family

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