do you think the world is too obsessed with money

Specialun

had this hungover debate with my mate earlier. i do think it is.

do you think the world is more obsessed with money these days..over what really should matter as in family, love , health or whichever.

what do you think has been the driver for this.

Cee-Jay-Cee

No.

4ensic15

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

No.

Agreed.

4ensic15

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

No.

4ensic15 wrote: »

Agreed.

Pun intended.

Yes. The more everyone you know has the more you want in general. And then in modern times we have access to the super rich via tv and magazines and social media so we know what we are missing out on. In the past there was no real access to any of that the only measure of your wealth were the other locals and generally if you were born poor you died poor or vice versa whereas now careers can help you climb the social ladder.

Alf Veedersane

Most people are going to answer based on their own opinion.

For me, it's a solid no, Greg. I wouldn't know what to do with more money. Not that I have a lot.

pleas advice

Ooh, it must've been about seven, eight years ago. Me and the little lady was out on this boat, you see, all alone at night, when all of a sudden this huge creature, this giant crustacean from the paleolithic era, comes out of the water...

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Yes. The more everyone you know has the more you want in general. And then in modern times we have access to the super rich via tv and magazines and social media so we know what we are missing out on. In the past there was no real access to any of that the only measure of your wealth were the other locals and generally if you were born poor you died poor or vice versa whereas now careers can help you climb the social ladder.

So you're saying tv is the problem

KERSPLAT!

We was so scared, Lord have mercy, I jumped up in the boat, and I said, "Thomas, Thomas, what on earth is that creature?"

Alf Veedersane

bluewolf wrote: »

So you're saying tv is the problem

Well, 72" smart tv is the problem

bluewolf

bluewolf wrote: »

So you're saying tv is the problem

No I didn’t say that if you read my post fully. It’s one aspect that allows us access to other peoples wealth we would never have seen before.

KERSPLAT!

I'm not obsessed with money but I know that the more I make the easier some things will be. Whether that's paying bills and putting clothes on my back or saving for a holiday. Most things need money so the more I have the better it helps that I love my job so making money is easy, I just need to make more!

Kermit.de.frog

Hungover debate OP?

Dunno. Last thing i'd want to be engaged in is a hungover "debate".

Rather nurse the headache.

jaxxx

Money? No. Power and control? Yes. That's why the world is so f**ked up today. Money is just a tool, not the objective.

Phil.x

Money is what makes the world go round.

Absolutely certainly there is far too much consumerism. I love a day where I don't have to buy anything. Nothing to do with money, just with shifting focus and priorities to more real things. I get a great pleasure in the simple things - walks, listening to calm classical piano music, the sound of water and so on. I rarely listen to the radio, tv or "news"/commercial sport bulletins, again to avoid the thud, thud of relentless 'buy, buy, buy' consumerism in all its guises. It's everywhere: western society's new fundamentalism. I may be ahead of the curve by a generation or two here, but in 2018 consumerist culture is a far greater brainwashing threat to kids and adults alike than any religion can come up with.

I've a lovely old aunt down the country on a big farm who's loaded. But she drives around in a 2004 car, has a 40-year-old unfitted kitchen, big windows that were put in in the 1920s and only got central heating about 15 years ago (it was hot water bottles and extra blankets when I used to stay with her as a kid). She's not mean by any stretch - she has quietly funded the education of several of us throughout the years because she puts a lot of store in education - but she buys what she needs and that's it. The most extravagant she'd get is when she'd go out and get a nice cake or something when she knows I'll be calling and that would be a special event. No crap food every day, just stuff from her garden or the like. There's something deeply refreshing and admirable in that disengagement from consumerism. A sense of priority and perspective that so many of us have lost under the weight of the incessant consumerist propaganda all around us.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Specialun wrote: »

had this hungover debate with my mate earlier. i do think it is.

do you think the world is more obsessed with money these days..over what really should matter as in family, love , health or whichever.

what do you think has been the driver for this.

We're more obsessed with status - money is jsut the beans by which we measure and compare it.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Yes. The more everyone you know has the more you want in general. And then in modern times we have access to the super rich via tv and magazines and social media so we know what we are missing out on. In the past there was no real access to any of that the only measure of your wealth were the other locals and generally if you were born poor you died poor or vice versa whereas now careers can help you climb the social ladder.

Yes, indeed. How very true. A guy in LSE, Richard Layard, has done a lot of work in the past decade or so on this very topic, the relativity of happiness. Well worth reading:

Richard Layard, Happiness: lessons from a new science

Cheerful Spring

Yes, a friend of mine who works in a top Accountant firm left his job he got sick of doing accountants for very rich people he said the greed he dealt with every day got the better of him.He dealt with a lot of these people on the phone. He looking for work with people that he calls normal.

qwerty ui op

Deleted User wrote: »

Yes. The more everyone you know has the more you want in general. And then in modern times we have access to the super rich via tv and magazines and social media so we know what we are missing out on. In the past there was no real access to any of that the only measure of your wealth were the other locals and generally if you were born poor you died poor or vice versa whereas now careers can help you climb the social ladder.

How far do they get? the highest earners I know are between 150k -200k and they all came from slightly better than average backgrounds. I'd know a few who came from a poor background who are in and around 100k (poor by Irish town standard, city poor is much worse and brings more problems).

Surely we've to work from the top down, so over 50 billion are the super rich and something like 500 million to 50 billion are the rich.

What happens in any community is that you'll have a few people in the 5 million to 10 million bracket and they're considered the rich just because they have a little extra than their neighbours. Almost nobody moves up to rich and even less get to super rich. I'm sure Dublin London New york are packed with millionaires who won't even be able buy theirs kids a modest house in good location.

OneEightSeven

Specialun wrote: »

had this hungover debate with my mate earlier. i do think it is.

do you think the world is more obsessed with money these days..over what really should matter as in family, love , health or whichever.

what do you think has been the driver for this.

We've always been obsessed by wealth. Before money, we had gold, silver, diamonds and other valuable metals we used in trade.

Humans are genetically hardwired to grab as much wealth as possible to ensure that they and their family have a secure future. It's a modern manifestation of grabbing as much food and water on the plains of Africa where Homo Sapiens originated. Because of drought cycles and other acts of nature, food and water can be scarce in Africa so they hoard as much as possible to endure droughts and famines.

We've just replaced food, water, gold etc with money because we now use money for transactions.

You mentioned families. The more money you have, the more you can protect your family. You can buy a home in gated community where your home won't be burgled and your kids are less likely to get involved with the wrong crowd or drugs.

Love. Women are gold-diggers. They love men with well-paying jobs because they can offer them a better and more secure lifestyle. The reason why women are attracted to big, strong men is because they are more physically able to ward off physical threats from other males, but with the introduction of societal laws helping to protect women from rapists and home intruders, this attraction has manifested itself to being attracted to wealthy men, not that they've lost their lust for muscular guys - they like both now. This is why women wet themselves over professional athletes.

Health. Before social healthcare, you had to pay for private. The more money you have, the better private healthcare you can afford.

So, really, we're obsessed with money because it improves our quality of life in the departments of love, family and health.

lulu1

Health before wealth every time

the_syco

lulu1 wrote: »

Health before wealth every time

Money helps keep the health, tbh. VHI health insurance; it cost a bit, but it helped my health a lot!

Sure, some people will work stupid hours, but in the broader sense wealth = health.

jigglypuffstuff

Yes

Money is the root of almost all evil

(not all...but the vast majority)

Graces7

Deleted User wrote: »

Absolutely certainly there is far too much consumerism. I love a day where I don't have to buy anything. Nothing to do with money, just with shifting focus and priorities to more real things. I get a great pleasure in the simple things - walks, listening to calm classical piano music, the sound of water and so on. I rarely listen to the radio, tv or "news"/commercial sport bulletins, again to avoid the thud, thud of relentless 'buy, buy, buy' consumerism in all its guises. It's everywhere: western society's new fundamentalism. I may be ahead of the curve by a generation or two here, but in 2018 consumerist culture is a far greater brainwashing threat to kids and adults alike than any religion can come up with.

I've a lovely old aunt down the country on a big farm who's loaded. But she
drives around in a 2004 car, has a 40-year-old unfitted kitchen, big windows that were put in in the 1920s and only got central heating about 15 years ago (it was hot water bottles and extra blankets when I used to stay with
her as a kid). She's not mean by any stretch - she has quietly funded the education of several of us throughout the years because she puts a lot of store in education - but she buys what she needs and that's it. The most extravagant she'd get is when she'd go out and get a nice cake or something when she knows I'll be calling and that would be a special event. No crap food every day, just stuff from her garden or the like. There's something deeply refreshing and admirable in that disengagement from consumerism. A sense of priority and perspective that so many of us have lost under the weight of the incessant consumerist propaganda all around us.

Thank you for this. It echoes my own way of life. With no TV etc I see no ads and want nothing for its own sake now. Trips to town leave me dazed with all the BUY!! hype .

Although we differ, your aunt and i , re what money we have.. even so.

Graces7

pone2012 wrote: »

Yes

Money is the root of almost all evil

(not all...but the vast majority)

That gets so misquoted. The bible verse actually says, "The love of money is the root of all evil"./

Makes much more sense. Money used well can feed and heal and help

It is not evil in its own nature, only in its usage and priority

Sam Quentin

I don't have much money.
But I have manners and respect, and sometimes I might seem richer than any man...
That's only because some people mistake me being happy as me being rich.
Money doesn't bring everybody happiness as we see every day by some 'rich' rude ignorant people.
UNFORTUNATELY at the end of the day those types will always need antidepressants.

corks finest

Obviously yes

lmimmfn

As said, the world is far too obsessed with consumerism and materialism, iphones and all that overpriced junk that's out of fashion 12 months later and obsolete soon afterwards.

Cutie 3.14

OneEightSeven wrote: »

Love. Women are gold-diggers. They love men with well-paying jobs because they can offer them a better and more secure lifestyle. The reason why women are attracted to big, strong men is because they are more physically able to ward off physical threats from other males, but with the introduction of societal laws helping to protect women from rapists and home intruders, this attraction has manifested itself to being attracted to wealthy men, not that they've lost their lust for muscular guys - they like both now. This is why women wet themselves over professional athletes.

Eh...wha?

messy tessy

Can't think of any professional athletes I'd wet myself over... Seamus Callanan on the other hand... *drools

Alf Veedersane

Ultimate Seduction

Back in the day we would have been obsessed with gathering or hunting for food and finding shelter, now we obsess with money to buy food and shelter.

cantdecide

It's like asking if we are 'obsessed' with food because we are always thinking about what we eat. Some people live for the joy of food, some people are gluttonous pigs who don't even seem to enjoy food very much and others would scoff down nutrition pills if it meant no washing up. Money is currency, an exchange of wealth for goods and services. This is true of all levels of society and at corporate and government level. It's our societal life blood and is a necessary evil that pervades our existence for almost as long as we've inhabited the planet so it behooves us to be concerned about it.

My attitude to money is that I simply want enough to sustain a decent, well rounded modern, western lifestyle - a little bit of everything with a lot of restraint.

I love cars but don't want a new one and can't see myself ever spending more than €5k on one because I don't have to (or anything close to €5k even). I love travel but haven't travelled properly in years (however, the gods have smiled and I'm going to Asia for about 10 weeks this summer). I don't have too many material indulgences but I will treat myself occasionally.

I had more than enough during the boom but still never earned very much. It's up to you to remove your feelings about wealth and simply work with the numbers available.

NeonSquares

Obsessed with money?, yes.

If people weren't we wouldn't have banks the lotto, betting etc etc.

You offer anyone a winning lotto ticket to cash, a guaranteed win bet to place at 100/1, 90% of people would take it.

It's unfortunately the world we live in where people always want that bigger house, better car, fancier clothes and a fatter paycheck.

No 'way of life' last forever though, history has shown us that, let's see if a change happens in our lifetime.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

take everything

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

We're more obsessed with status - money is jsut the beans by which we measure and compare it.

I think that's it.
An insecurity within people.
Of course this argument doesn't apply if you're on the breadline.

biko

Money represents food, heating and such stuff.
So yeah, I am pretty obsessed with having enough of it.

jigglypuffstuff

Graces7 wrote: »

That gets so misquoted. The bible verse actually says, "The love of money is the root of all evil"./

Makes much more sense. Money used well can feed and heal and help

It is not evil in its own nature, only in its usage and priority

That was not a quote, it was merely my opinion expressed...you're quite welcome to debate me on it.

My comments stand until such a point

lulu1

the_syco wrote: »

Money helps keep the health, tbh. VHI health insurance; it cost a bit, but it helped my health a lot!

Sure, some people will work stupid hours, but in the broader sense wealth = health.

All the money in the world wont prevent you taking a serious illness yes and it can help with meds doctors ect when diagnosed