What's the use of happiness?

[JLGatsby]

Schadenfreude

But could any amount of money bring the same kind of experiences that being in a military institution can bring?

I never said money can buy anything. I only said it can get you to places most people never get to experience. Money could not, for example, buy you the experiences of poverty.

remember Calvin's dad always saying that certain "duties" have no other rewards other than "build chracter"?

Same goes with the experiences money can buy. But in all honesty, when most people speak of "building character" they are basically saying, "this is how I plan to level out your personality so you'll be just another drone like everyone else." I personally would rather be sheltered and aloof than thrown out into the world and "well rounded" like everyone else. I am myself, I don't want to be "trimmed down" to be like everyone else.

Could I have the same kind of emotional reward if I just paid to attend classes, but chose to get a high-paying job?

I don't see how accepting handouts is beneficial. For me, I would wreck my motivation. I would be too worried about needing someone's handout and not focused on the actual task (for your case, martial arts).

You might argue against that: so let me go to the other extreme - would you, in all honesty, peddle drugs/sell people into slavery/kill people/harvest human organs and sell them on the black market if it means that you'd have money? I've talked to strippers that work 2~3 days a week, make $80k a year easily, and are miserable; there's a national statistic that says that strippers usually have emotional problems/delve into prostitution/other illegal activites - why? Is it because they're not making enough money? You might argue that they were already vulnerable to those activites to begin with - hence the follow up; but if money solves all, wouldn't money be able to solve that problem?

People who do things like sell drugs, or themselves for money are unique exceptions. What they're basically doing is selling their dignity in order to buy back their dignity. That would be like selling your car to buy gasoline. People who do things "outside" of the rules of "self respect" (or whatever you'd call it) for money will not gain. You cannot sell your dignity one day and then expect to be able to "buy" it back with money the next. As Ayn Rand said, "Money will not serve the mind that cannot match it." People who do those things to get money don't really deserve the TRUE benefits of having money. They're cheating the system.

And I would say $80k a year will not even come close to buying you happiness. It's not really until you get over $1M a year in income (with no daily obligations, meaning you have 100% freedom) do you really get to experience a whole lot. You're just surviving on $80k a year.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Originally posted by: JLGatsby
People who do things like sell drugs, or themselves for money are unique exceptions. What they're basically doing is selling their dignity in order to buy back their dignity. That would be like selling your car to buy gasoline. People who do things "outside" of the rules of "self respect" (or whatever you'd call it) for money will not gain. You cannot sell your dignity one day and then expect to be able to "buy" it back with money the next. As Ayn Rand said, "Money will not serve the mind that cannot match it." People who do those things to get money don't really deserve the TRUE benefits of having money. They're cheating the system.

And I would say $80k a year will not even come close to buying you happiness. It's not really until you get over $1M a year in income (with no daily obligations, meaning you have 100% freedom) do you really get to experience a whole lot. You're just surviving on $80k a year.

But by admitting such a condition, are you not admitting that money only becomes a priority after a certain, admittedly basic, precedent has been set? Even the quote by this . . . woman implicates that money is only a means, not the end. So how would money be the main source of happiness if money cannot buy dignity?

And if you're saying that money earned that way is not "honest", are you implying that there are different types of money?

So, this part is more a matter of curiosity; I'm assuming that you have not yet reached your goal of $1M with no daily obligations - granted, I could be wrong - but what kind of previlege would that buy as opposed to, say working as an executive with $800,000 other than the fact that you don't have as much personal time?

Being realistic, wouldn't shooting for "$1M with no daily obligations" be outright ridiculous for most people? All the people that I've met, regardless of sex/race/intellect wanted to make a difference in their community, and sure, they wanted to better their position in life, but this is just silly, isn't it? I guess I've heard some people say it, but they were usually kids who wre under 14 years of age - but still, a lot of them wanted to be policemen, firemen, etc.

On the subject of my lessons, I personally do not see the free lessons as a "handout" - I saw it more as a fair exchange, since I've proven myself in their eyes enough for them to extend the genorosity to me. Did I feel lower/worse than the students that paid/the students that were obviously from a wealthier background? No - I was their instructor, with some of the students being from the rich side of town, and they gladly helped me out whenever I needed help, monetary or otherwise, and the only factor of importance in their association with me was the knowledge, skill and dedication, regardless of wealth. Did I feel obligated to do sometings for the instructors that I usually wouldn't have done? That's also a negatory, since I felt I proved myself already.

Lastly, I have a question - over these conversations, and many others I've seen (but not necessarily participated in) you seem to be making assumptions about people that were, in my opinion, blatantly wrong - basically, what we are/were talking about now:

What makes you so sure that others feel the that you think the should/would really feel if they weren't lying to themselves? I can't vouch for anyone else, nor am I ignorant enough to do so - the thought would be nice, with everything being cared for and all, but I'd imagine I'd grow bored of such a life - or is there something else to this lifestyle that the majority of us are missing?

I've heard you mention your hypothesis several times - how did you come to this conclusion? Do you have any anecdotes/evidence of your reasoning behind this? Did you observe others display some actions that would indicate that it is true? I've heard you mention it, but to my knowledge you offer no background, nor any evidence to prove/disprove your ideas - honestly, I don't agree with your conclusions by any stretch of the imagination, but I can understand some of your reasonings but they still seem very redundant or flimsy, but I might have misunderstood. Please explain.