Current Events > The phrase "money can't buy happiness" is such a baby boomer concept

(+) Yeah! (+)

Like I dont want extensive wealth to buy a gold-plated toilet seat, Karen, I just wish I wasnt crying because I cant afford both spaghetti and rent after working 40 hours a week

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Money doesn't buy happiness

But you won't see me crying in a lambo

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Baby Boomers were making living wages from stocking positions at the local grocery market

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Spaghetti costs like $1 a box.

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CM_Ponch posted...

Baby Boomers were making living wages from stocking positions at the local grocery market

"I put myself through college working part-time, so why can't you?"
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shockthemonkey posted...

Its a phrase that only makes sense in their keeping up with the Joness way, where theyre already completely comfortable financially

This

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It's just something rich people say to make poor people complacent. Or something poor people say to rationalize their predicament. An abundance of money would fix 100% of my problems.
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Id rather be unhappy with money than unhappy with no money

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https://youtu.be/VtCiQoKykf0?t=636

Sweet song though.

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Money doesn't buy happiness

Sure as shit doesn't buy sadness, though.

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Depends what you consider "happiness".

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There are people who are happy despite being poor. There are people who are depressed despite being rich.

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Money [in excess of what you need to be comfortable] can't buy happiness [on a linear scale; there are diminishing returns].

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It can buy security (both literally and emotionally) which can fight against anxiety and depression, indirectly making you happier.

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I'm okay with money not being able to buy happiness if it can buy relative comfort so I can find happiness.

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Alucard188 posted...

I'm okay with money not being able to buy happiness if it can buy relative comfort so I can find happiness.

achievable in most of the USA with even just the median income! median household income gets you really far here as long as you don't go making reckless decisions like financing really expensive cars and shit

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Im 27

They were right

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You can be happy with less money, but more money helps.

rexcrk posted...

I just wish I wasnt crying because I cant afford both spaghetti and rent after working 40 hours a week

You're doing something seriously wrong then

SK8T3R215 posted...

Spaghetti costs like $1 a box.

lmao

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If money cant buy happiness then why is it so fabulous?

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Money can certainly lease happiness, for a little bit at least.

It removes pretty much every obstacle to happiness besides yourself

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Solid Snake07 posted...

It removes pretty much every obstacle to happiness besides yourself

Bullseye.

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With great money comes great responsibility...and income tax.

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Phrase is indeed 100% bullshit but it's not even the money anymore. It's how you're making it that matters.

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DandyQuackShot posted...

With great money comes great responsibility...and income tax.

With greater money, you can largely ignore those.

why did tc copy the words of a well-known screenshot instead of just posting the screenshot

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"Money can't buy happiness" the 72 year old boomer says, sipping coffee on his wrap-around porch in his favorite handmade rocking chair.

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Perascamin posted...

"Money can't buy happiness" the 72 year old boomer says, sipping coffee on his wrap-around porch in his favorite handmade rocking chair.

"Bullshit!" says the 20-something with a high-end smartphone and $600 sneakers.

"At least popcorn is still cheap" says the indifferent Gen-Xer watching that.

Pretty sure the idea predates boomers but, in general, it's hilarious to hear wealth-hating and shaming millennials who voted for Bernie "nobody should be rich except politicians like me" Sanders criticize the idea.

SK8T3R215 posted...

Spaghetti costs like $1 a box.

This.

CM_Ponch posted...

Baby Boomers were making living wages from stocking positions at the local grocery market

Except they weren't. Stephen King talks about how he was struggling to afford medicine for his daughter when working full-time back then. Millennials like to pretend that things were different so they have an excuse or justification but no, they really weren't.

UnholyMudcrab posted...

"I put myself through college working part-time, so why can't you?"

You literally can today at many state schools. Even CT -- one of the most overpriced states in the country -- has state schools with $11-13k annual tuition. Even UConn ranges from $15-17k.

And if you can't afford tuition and your other costs working part-time, try working full-time which is what I did.

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dr_strangelove posted...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/money-buys-happiness-depending-on-income-level-2021-1%3famp

from the end of this article:

As they put it, money "is an opportunity that people routinely squander because the things they think will make them happy often don't."

feeling this a lot recently talking to my parents about budgeting stuff and dthey're constantly like "are you sure you're buying enough stuff? don't you want more stuff?" and I have to keep saying I'm perfectly fine

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Choco posted...

why did tc copy the words of a well-known screenshot instead of just posting the screenshot

Took 30 posts

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There is an ancient Confucian proverb that says mo money, mo problems.

That really says it all.

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Questionmarktarius posted...

"Bullshit!" says the 20-something with a high-end smartphone and $600 sneakers.

"At least popcorn is still cheap" says the indifferent Gen-Xer watching that.

It IS bullshit

but Im guilted all the time knowing I have it better than cousins in countries struggling - I dont care to own many things and it doesnt make me happy to know they want all the things I can have by swiping my card

I stick to playing guitar and sending them money, its not my fault I live here and was born here but I do not find myself happy accumulating backlogs of games, buying expensive clothes, buying unnecessary things

It doesnt make me happy, the only reason to make money is to give it to others - the day I buy a house it is simply to slowly leave the money game and let wealth self propagate so I can get back to life


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSBLmhpA8Ig

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Happiness is a nebulous concept, money can buy improved material conditions.

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Mo money, mo problems
But I won't give you any of my problem money because fuck you

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Only people with money say shit like that.

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The most important thing is health, if one health is really bad then no amount of money is going to help if no treatment exist. However if a treatment gets created and it cost a lot of money, then that is when money will bring happiness.

Of course without money then there will be no holidays, treatments for health, food, drinks, house, etc.

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You're confusing happiness with happier.

If you could afford rent and spaghetti you'd want more. And that is what the saying is referencing, that you'll always want more.

Dinner better then spaghetti, a bigger place, a nicer car, some new gadget, vacation, international vacation, there is always something.

The phrase isn't saying poor people should he happy to be poor. It's a statement to rich greed and asking why you keep chasing money over other things.

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Honestly for men if you have low confidence you are going to need a lot of money to get sexually satisfied jf you are confident and can attract a woman the need to be filthy rich is obsolete. Thats really truly it.

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An easy fix would just be adding one word

"Money alone can't buy you happiness"

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Questionmarktarius posted...

"Bullshit!" says the 20-something with a high-end smartphone and $600 sneakers.

"At least popcorn is still cheap" says the indifferent Gen-Xer watching that.

A high end smartphone and $600 sneakers- $2000.

A wrap around porch attached to a ranch-stylr home built circa 1980s - $450,000

That's apples to oranges

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Zeus posted...

Pretty sure the idea predates boomers but, in general, it's hilarious to hear wealth-hating and shaming millennials who voted for Bernie "nobody should be rich except politicians like me" Sanders criticize the idea.

Bernie has pushed for policies that help the less fortunate throughout his entire career and as far as politicians go his wealth is relatively little. Money dominates politics.

Zeus posted...

Except they weren't. Stephen King talks about how he was struggling to afford medicine for his daughter when working full-time back then. Millennials like to pretend that things were different so they have an excuse or justification but no, they really weren't.

The poor have always existed. That doesn't mean things can't be worse in certain aspects. Healthcare costs have undoubtedly gone way up.

Zeus posted...

You literally can today at many state schools. Even CT -- one of the most overpriced states in the country -- has state schools with $11-13k annual tuition. Even UConn ranges from $15-17k.

And if you can't afford tuition and your other costs working part-time, try working full-time which is what I did.

If it's so easy then why is student loan debt such a huge problem and why wasn't a problem before? Do you think people got stupider?

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Money can buy happiness. People with money can afford good therapists.

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1337toothbrush posted...

Bernie has pushed for policies that help the less fortunate throughout his entire career and as far as politicians go his wealth is relatively little. Money dominates politics.

The poor have always existed. That doesn't mean things can't be worse in certain aspects. Healthcare costs have undoubtedly gone way up.

If it's so easy then why is student loan debt such a huge problem and why wasn't a problem before? Do you think people got stupider?

Let's assume you pay 12k for just tuition and you just live in a tent for 4 years, with the cost of your tent site being 300/month. And you're also really good at eating for $40/week. You spend $35 minimum between toiletries and cleaning supplies, roughly $25/month on public laundry, and.....you don't own a car, you take public transit or walk everywhere somehow through the power of fucking space magic like Zeus here is suggesting. You spend $500/year on public transportation fares. You have a "good full time job" paying $14/hr and after taxes, you earn roughly $12.20/hr

12k x 4 = $48,000
$40x52x4= $8,320
$300x12x4 = $14,400
$35x12x4 = $1,680
$25x12x4 = $1,200
$500x4 = $2,000

Total: $75,600

$12.20x40x52x4= $101,504.

Leftover after college: $25,904.

-You never bought books, school supplies, or tech such as a laptop for your schooling. You did not pay any lab fees for your associated courses.

-You never bought any clothes or shoes for yourself in this 4 year time period

-You never bought a camping stove, blankets, mattress/sleeping bag, a cooler, silverware, cooking utensils, or other basic life supplies while you lived in a tent for 4 years.

-You never got sick or needed medical attention. No regular dental cleanings, no regular health check up, never needed an antibiotic or etc

-You never bought something nice for yourself or spent any money on the holidays for your friends, loved ones, significant other, or family.

-You never went out with friends or even by yourself on your days off

-Through the power of space magic you didn't have to take out an official student loan and your college of choice just let you pay off the cost of the tuition over time. There was no principal interest or credit % fee

So. It is possible to get through college on a full-time job if you are willing to not own a car and live inside of a tent for a very long time and eat nothing, but you still need hyper specific circumstances to be met.

But even with the power of fucking space magic. It is utterly impossible to get through modern schooling on a part time job

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