What WON'T people realize how IMPORTANT money in congruence with

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   gmwilliamsposted 10 years ago

   
   success is in the postmodern era?  Money is the barometer as to whether one leads a socioeconomic life w/o struggle or is constantly striving to live above water socioeconomically.  Money guarantees a better living standard and quality of living.  With money, one has better health care, better food and nutrition, and better quality of education, particularly for one's children.   
   
   Also success is one of the main components in the postmodern era.  When one has a successful career, he/she is happy, knowing that he/she is utilizing his/her human potential.  When one is successful, he/she has a measure of ownership over his/her career.  When one is successful, he/she knows that what he/she is doing careerwise is making a difference one way or another.   What are YOUR thoughts on this?

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      wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      "When one has a successful career, he/she is happy, knowing that he/she is utilizing his/her human potential."
      
      Money cannot buy happiness, and anyone who thinks it can is sadly mistaken.  It is a lesson many never learn, always chasing the almighty dollar even long after all the money they need is readily at hand.  Keeping up with the Joneses does not buy happiness, either, for most people (to a few sad social climbers it does, but most people recognize the futility of such competition).  Not even work buys happiness for any but the pathetic workaholics amongs us, leaving their family and children behind to collect toys and a big house instead.

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2. 85

   gmwilliamsposted 10 years ago

   Money DOES buy happiness.  If one is impoverished and constantly struggling, he/she is not happy, always wondering if there will be food on the tables, if bills are going to be paid, and if he/she will have a roof over his/her head or will he/she be homeless.  Money is THE MAIN indicator of happiness.  The best things in life CO$T$ and NOTHING IS FREE.   There's NOTHING wrong with chasing after money.  I admire such people for their drive and amibition. Being wealthy is GOOD. After all, it is MONEY that rules.

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      wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      We will never agree on this point.  I realize you like the expensive things in life, but many do not.  Friends, family and love are far more important than money beyond basic needs for us.  And basic needs do NOT include a 4,000 sq ft home, Mercedes in the garage and a boat in the driveway. 
      
      I would offer you my sympathy and pity, but don't think you realize you need them.  If I were to tell you that I will give up saving for a trip to Scotland in order to drive a few hundred miles a visit my sister and her family a few times, I doubt you could ever understand it.  But however much I would love to see the old country, my family means far more to me. 
      
      I don't WANT the big mansion, and I CERTAINLY don't want the servants required to keep it up.  I want my grandkids (all six of them), my children and siblings around me.  I don't WANT the swimming pool in the back yard or the beautifully landscaped yard (and gardener to go with it).  I don't WANT the museums, the opera and the amusement parks; I want a quiet walk through the Redwoods or a few hours on a burbling stream with a fishing pole in hand.  I want to sit on the beach or in a campsite, mesmerized by the waves and campfire, not the raucous noise in the bar or concert.
      
      What I want doesn't cost a fortune; it is very nearly free.

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      1. 85

         gmwilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Sure DO like the expensive things in life.  NOTHING'S wrong with that at all!  RAISED that way and was willing to WORK for it!  Money IS what makes the world go around and it NEVER turns on you the way friends and family can.  Money is an assured guarantee for hard times when it is the difference between living and being homeless.   
         
         Friends and family, if they are poor, CAN'T rescue one if one falls on economic hard times as they are having hard times themselves.  It 's MONEY that is a real guarantee.    I am a museum and restaurant type of person.  I LOVE the GOOD LIFE.  After all, I am a quintessential New York and money is the name of the game in New York.  I am proud of money, love money, and am willing to work hard for it!  No shame at all, money is GOOD!
         
         There are many people who LOVE the expensive things in life.  Far more than you know.  I know a woman who came from a very impoverished family and relishes expensive things.  In fact, she makes me look like Frugal  and Cheap Annie.  She loves to shop at Bergdof Goodman and Bloomingdales-she does this habitually.  She NEVER shops at discount centers(I regularly do).  I only shop at Bloomingdales when there are SALES.  She goes to Broadway plays weekly and travels constantly.  She can well afford it.    There's nothing wrong with loving expensive things and the better things of life.  That is the difference between living a basic existence and a civlized existence.  Why be content with the basics when there is BETTER?
         
         There ARE those who want the more expensive things of life. There ARE those who refuse to settle for the mere rudiments of life.  That is EXISTING, NOT LIVING.  Having those things is what is part of living a civilized life.  If one has to live a basic life, what is the point of living, really!   Some people are ambitious while others are just well, CONTENT to just..........WELL, SUBSIST.
         

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            wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            No, you don't want the better things in life - that would be that quiet walk through the Redwoods - you want the expensive things, thinking that they are better.  A social climber, having to prove all your life that you can afford more things than the Joneses. 
            
            To each their own, but you make a major mistake in thinking that everyone wants that life.  Most do not want it, and the cost of that life is far too high for most people anyway ("cost" not referring to $$).

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               gmwilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Quiet walks, ehhh, would BORE me to death.  I do love the BETTER things of life.  The plays, restaurants, museums, those are culturally enrichening.   I prefer civilization.  Many people do WANT these things; however, they have been inculcated into a poverty mindset and consciousness to believe that wealth is bad and that is why they believe that they "DON'T' want such things.  Everyone, in his/her logical mind, want to live a socioeconomically affluent life.   It is not about the Joneses, who cares about the Joneses.  It is about living a CIVILIZED existence as opposed to living at the LOWEST, BASEST, and MOST RUDIMENTARY level of existence.

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                  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  At that point all I can say is "I'm sorry for you".  As sorry as you probably are for me.  To each their own, as I say.

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                     gmwilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     Wilderness, you are Dr. Zhivago to my more evolved/positive version of Victor Komarovsky. Having money makes ONE'S life better.  Also, it makes OTHERS' lives better through charities, donating to organizations, and establishing schools and funds for disadvantaged children. 
                     
                     Wealth and money is not only about self but about others.   Money also have the clout to institutionalize changes in the lives of others.  There is life beyond friends and family, there are OTHER people out there who are worthy of love and respect.    There are so many good things that money and wealth can bring.

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                        wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                        Evolved?  I doubt it - evolution does not lead us to grub for money at the expense of children. 
                        
                        Sure, I'd like to have a couple of mil, or maybe 50 so that I could help others.   But the cost of collecting that money isn't worth it, not to me.  At the root of it, I have only time in my life, nothing more.  And to waste that time collecting funds to see an opera or concert that cannot compare to the majesty, peace and beauty of nature...it just doesn't make sense.  To you, who values being able to spend that money as much as you value the opera it DOES make sense.  You cannot appreciate the peace and beauty available to any that can get to nature (and quiet their soul long enough to drink it in).  You are stuck, stuck in a human anthill that has only survival and ants to offer.  You have my pity.

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                           gmwilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                           Nothing is wrong with being in nature.  Nature is indeed beautiful and majestic; however,  attending plays, operas, and museums are educational and a great learning experience.  Nothing in life is FREE; quality CO$T$.   Money is VERY/EXTREMELY important.    It is money that runs society and advances civilization.  Without money, there would be NO modern and advanced civilization as we know it.  Money is a great thing and the MORE, the better. 
                           
                           More money equals a better and vastly superior life without the worry of socioeconomic struggle and living from day to day to day.  More money equals no worries and financial freedom to do as one wishes.  If you were an unemployed person with a measurable amount of money, you have enough to tide you over for a while.  You are not so desperate to take the FIRST job that will be offered to you.   You can be MORE CHOICY as to what type of job you will take.   However, if you were an unemployed person with little money, you would HAVE to take the FIRST job offered to you no matter how crappy it is and/or even if the boss is a louse.  You will HAVE to take the job as your dire socioeconomic circumstances WILL demand it.
                           
                           More money furthermore equals OWNERSHIP of one's life and destiny.   If one is wealthy, he/she does not have to be a SLAVE.  He/she does not have to worry about homelessness as a person who is living from paycheck to paycheck.   Now, isn't it smart to earn and accumulate as much money as possible for such reasons?   The average person is really 1.5 paychecks away from homelessness.  God forbid, if he/she loses his/her job and have NO savings-he/she will be up ------------ creek.   It is SMART to plan and strategize a way to earn as much money as one can.  It is SMARTER to invest/save at least 35% of one's earnings.   More money means more $aving$ and inve$tment$.   Always $ave for the future.   
                           
                           To say that money isn't important is quite unrealistic in light of our capitalistic society.  Money is very important, if not, the MOST important thing.  The bill collector, the tax collector, and the landlord does not want to hear that you don't have any money but you have LOVE.  They want the monAY and to be PAID
                           

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3. 85

   gmwilliamsposted 10 years ago

   Wilderness, don't have to agree at all.  This is a democratic discussion.  Agree to "disagree."  Each is entitled to his/her premise, that's all.  This is, after all, an OPEN forum.

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4. 67

   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   My thoughts are that many poor people are completely successful human beings. Pious nuns tending to the needy, farmers nurturing the land not screwing it for every penny, artists expressing their vision....
   
   Money is success only if wealth is your goal.  It is not the only acceptable goal for members of the human race.

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   1. 85

      gmwilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      With the exception of the pious nuns and priests, money is success for those who wish to LIVE, not just merely to eke an existence at the most rudimentary level.  This postmodern society is becoming so that those who don't have money will eventually go under, becoming the new underclass with very little or no prospect of ever getting out of poverty.
      
      Nuns and priests have a vocation and take a vow of poverty.   In this society as it stands, money does equal wealth.   A person, who is aware, wants/desires to become wealthy for the socioecomonic and psychosocial accolades it brings to themselves, their families, and those they help outside the familial circle.  No one in his/her right mind, if the opportunity avails itself, wants to be socioeconomically poor.

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