"What a weary time those years were--- to have the desire and the need to live but not the ability" -Charles Bukowski (Ham on Rye)
Full Text Study and a citation for anyone interested in reading the study
While discussing the concept of happiness as defined by Aristotle, the class seemed shocked when the statement was made that poor people cannot be happy. The idea that there are people who cannot be happy is so uniquely un-American because we tend to think of happiness as something that has intrinsically evolved in human beings and as something that functions independently of the external world. For evidence of this, a person need not look any further than the Declaration of Independence (e.g., Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness). As Americans, happiness is more than an emotion, it is a right. However, what we, too, often fail to realize is that not everyone has the means to pursue happiness and, therefore, not everyone can be happy.
Aristotle loosely defines happiness as a state of being. In other words, happy people are not in need or wanting of the basic necessities in life that allow humans to pursue experiences that make us happy. People living in poverty, therefore, cannot pursue happiness. Numerous research studies have provided evidence to suggest that there is a positive relationship between wealth and happiness (i.e., as wealth increases, so does happiness). However, few people would agree with the statement that wealth creates happiness in the same way that people, myself included, were reluctant to agree with the statement that poverty prevents happiness. Rather, wealth gives us the means with which to be happy and experience a state of happiness. So, it would make sense that a lack of wealth would correlate with a lack of happiness, and indeed it does according to a study conducted by Kushlev, Dunn, and Lucas (2015), which found evidence to suggest that lower income populations tend to experience more sadness throughout the day than higher income populations.
In my opinion, we can either acknowledge the fact that higher income populations reap financial, educational, health, and psychologically related benefits that low income populations are lacking, or we can keep pretending that poor people can be happy if they just try hard enough.
Article discussing the study
Aristotle loosely defines happiness as a state of being. In other words, happy people are not in need or wanting of the basic necessities in life that allow humans to pursue experiences that make us happy. People living in poverty, therefore, cannot pursue happiness. Numerous research studies have provided evidence to suggest that there is a positive relationship between wealth and happiness (i.e., as wealth increases, so does happiness). However, few people would agree with the statement that wealth creates happiness in the same way that people, myself included, were reluctant to agree with the statement that poverty prevents happiness. Rather, wealth gives us the means with which to be happy and experience a state of happiness. So, it would make sense that a lack of wealth would correlate with a lack of happiness, and indeed it does according to a study conducted by Kushlev, Dunn, and Lucas (2015), which found evidence to suggest that lower income populations tend to experience more sadness throughout the day than higher income populations.
In my opinion, we can either acknowledge the fact that higher income populations reap financial, educational, health, and psychologically related benefits that low income populations are lacking, or we can keep pretending that poor people can be happy if they just try hard enough.
Article discussing the study
Kushlev, K., Dunn, E.W., Lucas, R.E. (2015). Higher income is associated with less daily
happiness but not more daily happiness. Social Psychology and Personality Science, 6,
happiness but not more daily happiness. Social Psychology and Personality Science, 6,
483-489. doi: 10.1177/1948550614568161
I completely agree with your whole post. Poor people can not really be happy, if they lack the proper resources. Because they lack the proper resources, they may then encounter psychological issues as you pointed out in your post. Lack of proper resources, psychological disorders, and more can make anyone emotionally drained.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post. I just want to clarify that when I refer to "poor" people I do not mean people who can't afford a brand new iPhone 6 when they have an iPhone 5. I am referring to poor people who literally do not know if their paycheck will cover their rent and money will be left over for food. Those are the poor people that can not be happy because even if they are smiling, in the back of their mind thinking if they will have dinner tomorrow night will always be there.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Andrea. It is unfortunate that nowadays money can dictate someone's happiness. Some might say, myself included, that money is the "root of all evil." Think about it, in order for some desperately poor people, they have to sell their bodies to strangers. They have to sell drugs. They have to do things that could land them in very bad situations, all because of money. Those people cannot be happy (not necessarily the drug dealers if you want to get technical). But seriously, poor people cannot be as happy as someone who is wealthy and can have all their basic needs met.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post that a person's happiness is based off of their needs. However, I do not think it necessarily just wealth or poverty. A person can be a millionaire but if they do not have friends and feel that they need them then they are not truly happy because they are in need of something. We often compare happiness to wealth but it is not always the necessities people feel they lack but also mental necessities. Wealth is also not always about money. A wealthy person is someone who does not need anything to be in the "state of happiness."
ReplyDeleteI understand, and I agree. I feel like money is the reason people do anything. Even us, I'm pretty sure if we were told we didn't need a college degree to obtain a high paying job, a high percentage of us wouldn't be enrolled in college. I enjoy money, it buys me my happiness. It sounds really bad when we say poor people can't be happy, but I wouldn't be happy if I didn't know if I was going to have a bed to sleep at night.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all nicely cited! Your writing was very well done. I also agree with your points. It is easier to assume that the poor can be happy than to take responsibility for the fact that they are not. Before this class I would have 100% disagreed with the statement that the poor cannot be happy. But if happiness is defined by whether someone can flourish or not than I will have to agree that the poor cannot be happy. They constantly have to focus on living for today and it is hard to plan for the future when you are just trying to make sure you can feed yourself.
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