Happy, sappy


A recent conversation with an acquaintance about the relationship between happiness and wealth yielded the predictable response.

Money can't make you happy.

This, of course, coming from somebody who doesn't have to worry about that problem.

Poverty can't make you happy either.

What we are about in life, generally, is our ability to make choices. That's why we cherish our American way, calling it "freedom" but meaning something else. What it means is that we aren't required to be peasants just because we were born under the sign of peasantry.

Choices.

Stupid people have stupid parents.

Given the choice, most folks would choose intelligence over stupidity, unless they didn't know the difference. At that point, they'd say they were blessed with "common sense," a vague way of rationalizing their unwillingness to understand anything beyond what their minister told them.

Most Americans ("most" being a term loosely connected to our government's definition) have choices about most of their future. For the wealthy, paying for it is a lot easier. The rest of us queue at a lender's desk and end up paying three times what it's worth.

That's called debt and when we get too much of it, we find ourselves making choices.

The wealthy don't understand.

Happiness gets to pay cash.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jesus and the poor

Image
Apparently there's a debate afoot about whether America, as a "Christian" nation, is not doing the Christian thing by ignoring its poor. The premise, according to a comment by TV personality Steve Colbert, is that this isn't what Jesus would do. The conversation, I suspect, comes back to the Tea Party, which considers itself either Republican or part of the Christian Right, neither of which connects very well to poverty, according to liberals. Liberals, according to the Christian right, are actually "niggers and wetbacks." They don't actually say that because even the Christian right occasionally demonstrates some restraint. Truth is, nearly everyone born in this country in the 20th century is aware of the principles of Christianity. Part of that is connecting the religion to the lives of the poor. Generally, however ... and correct me if I am wrong ... the main goal is salvation of the soul. Needing a sandwich at the time is optional. My knowledge of bi
Read more

Fall, colors and Halloween

Image
I take time to check the local reports around the country for their version of the fall colors. I guess I have too much time on my hands. Usually, it's the same story, depending ... not enough rain will make the colors dull ... too much heat will delay things. If your perspective is to look up at the trees, you might wonder how long it's going to take you to rake them - if they ever decide to fall. Which they will. I have an oak tree out back that is losing its leaves and I've learned to be patient. Leave them in place. By November, a big wind will come along and ... whoosh! Leaves are down the block. Fall is a nice time of year if it doesn't rain.
Read more

A story worth repeating

Image
Evidence that other-world creatures have indeed come to Earth has been deciphered. At first, it made no sense. Naturally, the creatures speak and write in a different language. But the small bits of paper came together nicely for the students at Brainard College, N.D. Apparently, on one cold December night in 2002, the ship landed quietly in a bean field not far from where its inhabitants believed was a source of civilization. The lights in the distance were bright. Machines were moving about rather freely. The place was a 24-hour convenience mart. As it turned out, the bits and pieces of paper that were picked up by a group of Scouts who were cleaning the North Dakota roadside were unique enough that they caught the eye of their faculty adviser. He turned the scraps over to the Humanities Department at Brainard. Eight years of work have paid off. Here's what the scraps said. "We came to Earth in search of intelligent life and, finding none, we returned to our ship. Our comman
Read more