As questions are raised as to whether our current economic situation will lead into a depression, and as we hear blurbs about the latest unemployment rate on the news, panic rises. This is the inevitable reaction of course, and a natural one considering how Americans characterize the American Dream, and thus happiness, as financial prosperity. Although we as a society like to convince ourselves that we are the exception to the rule, and do not link happiness with financial wealth, all too many are lying to themselves. Two economists from the University of Pennsylvania conducted a study where they concluded that the majority of people do indeed link money to happiness.
Yes of course, the economic crisis is awful, and has imposed many dire outcomes onto hundreds of innocent, hardworking people. However, shouldn't we take this situation as a reminder of how lucky we are? Not only in economic means, but also in other ways. According to the poem "Happiness" by Carl Sandburg, happiness is found through fellowship with friends and family. Sandburg wrote of the Hungarians who had little more than a "keg of beer and an accordion", and claimed they knew the true meaning of happiness, where the professors and executives, the stereotypical players for success, did not. Think of every cliche you have heard or seen: the hallmark cards, sappy movies, overly sentimental books, all of which stand to prove happiness cannot be linked to a monetary value, but must be found through enjoying and piecing together the little things. People enjoy these cliches for a reason, they hold some truth to them, and give hope for happiness to those who are financially poor.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, affluence is defined as having a great deal of money. Wealth on the other hand, is defined as an abundance of valuable possessions. All to often, Americans view money as the only valuable possession that must be possessed in order to be labeled as wealthy. However, if one looks at all of the valuable, non monetary, possessions they are surrounded with in their lives, I'm they they will find they are much wealthier than they thought.
