Nicholas Thieme English 101 3/16/16 Mid-Term Essay Quality Living Birth. The very first moment that contact is made with everything outside the safety of the mother’s womb. A person does not decide where, how, when, or to whom they are born to. To each individual walking the earth it is simply a chance happening. There is no choice in the matter only an outcome. Gender, race, and birthplace all decided before the first breath is taken. Some may reason that depending on where a person is born it determines the outcome of their lives. Some may argue that genetic predisposition and nature work hand in hand write the story of an individual’s life, and that the single event of birth sets the trajectory of where each person ends up. Some may …show more content…
As Bob Harris states in the book The International Bank of Bob, “It’s one blind shot at a tine moving target. Win big at the birth lottery, and you get to poop gold by the kilo. Lose big, and you’ll be among the billion without even clean water to drink.” However, that is looking at the Birth Lottery strictly from the perspective of a monetary view, and life is not measured in terms of money. Winning big at the Birth Lottery does not necessarily guarantee that a person will be successful, especially when it comes to things such as joy, contentment, peace, and physical health. A person can be rich and educated, but completely devoid of joy. Here in the Western World the United States, or the “land of opportunity,” was ranked number 15 on the World Happiness Report in 2015. Jeffery Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and one of the editors of the World Happiness Report, as part of a Q&A session explained that “On the personal side, physical and mental health are extremely important in addition to income levels. Personal values are very important. People who are more generous, who express more orientation toward others, more compassion, are also systematically reporting that they’re happier.” Sachs goes on to say, “What we learn about the United States, is that while income has been rising, the social qualities have been worsening – the level of trust, the confidence in our government, has been going down.
Many people have a thought in their minds that wealth is the factor that makes an individual Joyful;however,this is not a real statement.What actually makes a person happy is one’s health and love.
As human beings we are very diverse. We vary from numerous backgrounds, ethnicities, morals, and cultures. However, as much as we are unique, we all share one common goal in life. Everyone has a desire for happiness. I found that throughout my daily life I based my decision off of what would make me happy, whether it was for a long or short period of time. Often happiness is associated with successfulness and achievement. Though, like the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, happiness can be found in different ways by different people. This along with reading The Driest Season by Meghan Kenny, is what influenced me to want to find out more about happiness, if it is truly attainable, and how people achieve it.
In “Happiness: Enough Already,” Sharon Begley argues that happiness is overrated and it should not always be a priority in your life.
By changing the perception of all types of wealth, not just fiscal prosperity, multiple pathways to happiness become apparent. “When your
In the article, Determinants of Happiness in Undergraduate University Students, it says, “Researchers such as Cummins et al. (2009) go as far as to suggest that individuals are happier when whole society’s functions better” (Flynn and MacLeod 452). This shows that without happiness, people could not work well together. It is why so many people work together, and keeping the economy well. In the article Determinants of Happiness in Undergraduate University Students, it says, “It is well known in the positive psychology literature that increased happiness is related to multiple benefits including better mental and physical health, (see Lyubomirsky et al. 2005)” (Flynn and MacLeod 452). This is why people that are happier have a better life in their jobs and schools. It also shows that people have better eating habits if they are happy. In the article Determinants of Happiness in Undergraduate University Students, it says that, “The individual benefits can pale in comparison to the potential societal gains of having a population comprised of such happy and therefore “successful” individuals” (Flynn and MacLeod 453). This is why people who like their job are better at their job. People that are fortunate are ones who usually like their job. People are happier if what they are doing is what they like, and it helps them to be happier than they
Happiness is that intangible “something” that all human beings seem to long for from the time they are born. As Thomas Jefferson proclaimed in America’s Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” With the birth of a nation that was founded on the promise of a better life through individual achievement, regardless of social class, the pursuit of happiness has perhaps become synonymous with securing “the American Dream.” The pursuit of happiness and achieving “the American Dream” are entirely different from one person to another. The dream is what
Everyone’s happiness is different, however in America, each person’s difficulty to accomplish it varies as well. Since its creation, the United States promised to be the land of equal opportunity and granted the people their basic human rights. The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness cannot be taken away from anyone in America. However, pursuit of happiness is one thing, achieving it, is another. For many, the American Dream is something that must require many sacrifices, and maybe it will become achievable. For few, they were born in the American Dream, if they choose to grow on it, it would require little effort. Today, success has a sort of favoritism when it comes to what class a citizen may be. Success favors those with a wealthy background, because of the whispered caste system of America.
These implications were based on other reasoning’s on how happiness is achieved, gained and most importantly maintained. “Is it possible to assist individuals to make better choices about happiness, for themselves and all life on the planet? Can we teach sustainable happiness? If so, can this be expanded to the community level? Is it possible to create communities, towns, and cities that make people happier sustainably and thus contribute to public and environmental health and well-being?
Don Peck and Ross Douthat convey through their editorial, “Does Money Buy Happiness?,” that one’s level of content to a degree is contingent upon their ability to act as a consumer in society. Peck and Douthat base their assumption on research which shows, “For individual countries, with few exceptions, self-reported happiness has increased as incomes have risen” (332, par.4) Based on this statistic, it is being assumed that one’s ability to support their lifestyle and perhaps better it creates a sense of security that leads to happiness.
Following Malcolm Gladwell’s idea on “the story of success”, Sonja Lyubomirsky put happiness to the test. Happiness has many great advantages that some may not think about. Studies shown happiness leads to stronger relationships, higher work performance, and even living longer with many health benefits.
Albert Schweitzer once said, “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” Many people dream of what they will become and how their lives will be when they are older. Depending on the dreams people have, some will come true and others won’t. The American Dream is something numerous people strive for, but the meaning of it can vary. Lately, the American Dream seems to be about getting a job that makes an abundance of money. It shouldn’t simply be about becoming wealthy and living in a huge house; it should be about accomplishing things that fulfills one's happiness.
The essay “Does Money Buy Happiness?” by Don Peck and Ross Douthat which was originally published as the January/February 2003 issue of the Atlantic discusses how wealthier countries are happier than non wealthy countries, with some exceptions. In paragraph 2, Peck and Douthat wrote the claim as “Money does buy happiness-but only to a point” (332) and justifies by using Robert E. Lane’s argument and charts to support their claim (use of logos). In paragraph 3-4, the authors made assumptions by saying “The fact that richer countries are in general, happier than poorer ones may not seem terribly surprising, it does suggest that continuing economic development will generate rising happiness worldwide. That said, there are clear limits to what
Although Americans do look better and feel better with the extravagant items they purchase, money doesn’t buy happiness for long term goals. Like many will argue, like Atlantic senior editor Derek Thompson did in his 2013 article, “Yes, Money Does Buy Happiness: 6 Lessons on the Newest Research on Income and Well-Being,” money can only buy happiness for short term goals; it won’t last very long for everyone and it could lead to worse scenarios when the money is gone. Thompson (2013) included statistics on richer countries that are proven to be happier, explaining, “First, the lines go up. More money, more happiness. Second, the lines go up in parallel, more or less. Across language, culture, religion, ethnic background, the same amount of extra money seems to buy the similar amount of extra happiness.” Thompson (2013) found the same similar pattern in many other countries and concluded that they are more happy than poorer countries. Although poorer countries don’t have as many resources or many things like richer countries do, Seth Borenstein, in his 2017 article for The Independent, “Norway Beats Denmark to be Named the Happiest Country in the World by the UN,” can beg to differ. Borenstein (2017) says, “While most countries were either getting happier or at least treading water, America's happiness score dropped 5 per cent over the past decade” (Borenstein, 2017). That shows that America, one of the richest
However, Myers and Wiederman also consent that wealth, achievement, and one aspect of inheritance, little voice, might be obstacles to achieve happiness. Myers writes that money cannot buy happiness or bring it. Although people in poor countries are less happy than people in rich countries, some rich people are not as satisfied as regular people in the same country, and some of them don't know happiness, whereas a few of them are happy because they know how to gain it and how to spend it. Also, he compares people in the past and the present in the U.S. He concludes that Americans in the past seems happier than Americans now though the economy has been increasing, so wealth cannot escort satisfaction. According to Wiederman, accomplishment also may not lead to well-being since people whose goal is money will not be happy. That is because after achieving their goal, they will compare themselves with those who are richer than them. Then despondency will be their feelings. Moreover, if their goal is not money, and they are strong-linkers, another two situations may occur. He discusses that strong-linkers
When you hear the word happiness, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Do you think of material possessions like designer clothes and accessories, the newest iPhone with the highest possible storage capacity, or a shiny red supercar? Do you think the amount of money you have or your current financial status has an effect on how happy you are? Plenty of college students, myself included, would associate happiness with possessing items like these or just having a lot of money in general. In today’s society, one common belief about social class is that the richer and more money or things that one has, the happier this will make them. This belief is reinforced by countless advertisements we see and hear everywhere, whether that be on