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Robert P.'s avatar

As Dostoevsky wrote in "Notes from Underground, "If all man had to do was sleep, eat cake and create the next generation, he would perform some evil trick and tear it all down. " Material satiation is not the answer to happiness. Humans need challenges. They need something to push against and to accomplish.

As an older man I have a sense that life has many phases. One major phase, which takes place in one's 20s and 30s, is that of narcissism and that "everything is about me." If you were lucky and had good parents, they told you how special you were and you believed them.

Humans, and particularly young men, often transition out of this narcissistic phase when they meet a wonderful woman and get married. Suddenly, they have responsibilities beyond their own, personal petty wants. They now have some responsibilities for another human being.

Having children is the next major step in civilizing men. They now learn the real meaning of "sacrifice" and commitment to others. Often later in life both men and women must provide support and help for aging parents, which is another life lesson in the move away from narcissism.

Some folks eventually learn that the real road to happiness is one lined with sacrifice, commitment and dedication. Best put: Service to Others. If one lives their life in such a way that even one other person breathed a bit easier because they existed , then and only then may they even consider that they lived a moral, honorable, worthwhile life. A successful life.

Just an old soul livin' in a new world.

PS: I just turned 77 in May 2024. I currently am in good health both physically and cognitively. I go to the gym every day. I write essays, short stories and commentaries. I essentially live my life in the service of 1) My Wife 2) Our Grown Children 3) Our Grandchild 4) My elderly sister 5) My dear friends 6) My neighbors 7) My community 8) My nation. Me? Where do I rank myself? Somewhere in the top 20.

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Tris's avatar
18hEdited

So…

Money can't buy happiness. But it contributes to it.

But I also believe that happiness is a matter of comparison.

Imagine that no one has a car (or cars haven't been invented yet). One can not be unhappy to have to walk in the rain. That's just how it is. But imagine that the overall economic situation improve and now 25% of the people can get a car. Those who cannot get one are now quite unhappy about the situation.

And that apply to most of the material wealth and even to much tragic situations like child mortality.

So were medieval peasants happy ? Undoubtfully, they were very poor compare to nowadays standard of living. They had small hovels, ate the same food almost everyday and probably saw half of their children dying well before reaching the age of one. But if the harvest was good, their lord left them enough to eat and no invaders burned down their village for sometime, maybe they would say they were quite happy. Maybe even happier than most farmers today.

So happiness would not come so much from material wealth but from the fair distribution (or whatever considered as fair in a given culture) of the available wealth.

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