Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Money, Money, Money

Please answer the following prompts in a detailed, fluent response. Make sure to comment on other people's views within your own response. Take your level of thinking higher. Make sure you are beingthorough and honest.
What are your perceptions of material wealth/money? What is "wealth"? Do we see too much excess today? If your financial status a reflection of how successful you are? What is success to you? Are we always wanting more? Do we "want" too much? Is being content or fulfilled enough? When is enough, enough?

27 comments:

  1. I think that the material wealth that people have in today’s society is not necessary but I enjoy it. I don’t really have anything against material wealth because honestly I don’t want to live without some of the things I have. I don’t think that it is really hurting anything for my parents to have things and buy things for me. Wealth can be described in many different ways you can talk about the rich people of society or the comfortable not over the top wealthy people of society. I honestly can’t say what it is like to be one of the rich but I don’t want to know either. I think that being one of the richest people is way too much excess of wealth because even the middle class has excess of things they don’t need. Your financial status is not a reflection of how successful you are. Some people may choose a job or lifestyle that makes them happy and successful in their goals but not rich. Success is something that you set out for yourself to accomplish and it is not what others think success should look like. You should however always do your best in the things you are doing to gain greater success for yourself. I personally have been wanting more than I have for as long as I can remember but I do think that we want too much in society today. I don’t need any of the things that I want and I can certainly live without them but I always want the new things, the improved things. I think that enough is enough when it causes you to second guess what you are doing and if money or things have caused your values to change.

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  2. I think it is important to have money, but I feel like society has taken money, the idea of money/being rich, to a whole new level that isn't needed. You can be happy without having all the money in the world, money can't buy happiness. I think society tries to say that it can, but it can't. Yes having a lot of money can be fun but having people that matter in your life is so much more important. I don't think your finacial status is a reflection on how successful you are, if you are doing what you love then i think you are should count your self as being successful. If that's what you have dreamed of doing your whole life and you finally made it, then you are successful. I think you always want more then we have, thats what drives us forward, but I think we also have to enjoy and be thankful for what we do have. I think that if you are content and happy and enjoying life, then thats enough. If you are always trying to do more then you may never truly enjoy life and be happy.

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  3. I think in our world today it is very important to us to have material items and money to be "wealthy". You can be happy without having a lot of money, but people don't live like that today. Wealth is having good relationships and being happy with your life. I think we see a lot of excess today with celebrities and professional athletes. They get paid so much that they don't even know what to do with it anymore. People throw away their money with worthless items while people are stretching dollars to last the whole day. I agree with Erika when she said that success is not measured by financial status. If you inherit a lot of money, you are not successful; you were just born into the right family. I also agree with Erika because said that if you are enjoying life then you are successful, which means if you believe that you have achieved what you wanted, then you are successful. That may not include a lot of money. I think we always want more because it is in our nature, and it motivates us to reach our highest standards. Sometimes we want too much but it takes someone or something to happen that brings us back down to reality. You can always want more than you may ever have, but if you achieve your idea of success and internal happiness, you will have all you ever need.

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  4. I think money can destroy people, but also at the same time, money can help people. How we use money is up to the individuals. Money is not bad until we abuse our wealth by buying excessive materials-things that are unnecessary. In some ways, money destroys people because of how they chose to spend it. I think that people with power like politicians, CEOs, doctors, and more are good examples in terms of how they use money. They can sometimes trick people into giving them money. An example would be-a doctor can tell a patient that he or she needs surgery, just so that they can make money off of them. In addition, these people can also charge their customers, clients, or patients at an unreasonable price. I think money creates greed at times while other times it can help the individuals in need, to become successful. An example of a case where money can help a person to become successful is the movie called "The Pursuit of Happiness". It is a movie inspired by a true story in which a father and son who were homeless. They had no choice, but to sleep on the bathroom floor at a subway station. Throughout the movie, it shows how the father works really hard to get a job in order to support his son and himself. In the end, the father gets a job in the business field and later on in his life, he successfully builds his own business. I think to be absolutely wealthy, a person would have to work at it. To some people, becoming wealthy is easy, but to others, it is a lot of work. Wealth can be measure in so many ways, but how I measure wealth is how successful a person is. In today's world, I see excessive material, our society has become dependent on materials in order to get through life. I would agree with Erika in that the financial status does not reflect on an individual's success because a person can be born rich without trying or they have been rich their entire life and have the choice to not go to work. Even if we do not have enough money, we are always wanting more. I think part of it is because we look at what other people have and don't have. So if we see something we like, then we will want, no matter the cost. In my mind, success is a reward after an accomplishment has been fulfilled, big or small, easy or hard. If a person has all that he or she needs in life, then that is enough.

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  5. I agree with Erin there are certain things that all of us in the 21 century have that we would not like to give up and in some ways they do show your “wealth”. I think that someone can be wealthy without having a bunch of material goods or things that we bought from a store. I think how wealthy a person is depends on their outlook on their life and how other people view them. Yes to some extent I think that wealth is to have a good portion of money and to be able to spend it on whatever you would like but I also think that wealth is being able to accept everything (good or bad) that is thrown at you at any point in your life and being able to move on. I think that there is way too much excess in this world today we do not need to buy a bunch of clothes from a store just for them to sit around, we do not need to go out and buy the newest, coolest phone if our old phone still works because then the perfectly fine old phone just sits around and nothing ever happens to it. I think that we all need to decide what is truly important to us and get those things and us have extras but not so many extras that we just shove them to the farthest back corner of our closet and never use them. In some ways yes your financial status shows that you had been very successful in school and that you can be what employers are looking for but then on the other side of the spectrum if some poor person was not able to get a very good education in school and was not very successful for the beginning of their life but once they got older they tried really hard and got the education that they need to do what they needed to do to be “rich” in this world then no their being able to be rich has no reflection of their success in their life. Success is wanting to be able to do something and putting all of your might and all of you into being able to get it done, no matter if what you want to do something big or little. As humans I think we always want just a little bit more, I think we learn to be happy with what we have for a time but I don’t think we ever are super happy with what we have in our life and never want more. We always want to be one step ahead of someone else so we are never truly happy with what we have for long. I think that we do want too much we want to be the best at everything we do, we want to have the best grades, to get into the best colleges, to have the newest and coolest technology but we don’t think about how in 5, 10 or even 20 years if we had the newest i-phone or were the mvp of our sport yeah it looks cool but it really does not matter and in some cases it did not help us become the person we are today. Being content is good and bad. It is good because that means that for the moment were are happy with the things that we have and we are not worried about how we don’t have the newest and coolest things, but then at the same time it is not good because that means that when the newest thing (whatever it may be) comes out we will not be happy because ours is old and not good enough anymore. Enough is enough when we have everything that we must have in our lives and when we have some extra things but not too many extras. Enough is enough when we get new things we still appreciate them and we actually use them we do not just disregard them, and when we can see the thought behind the gift that we have received and not just think that it is “not good enough” for me.

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  6. I looked up the world wealth, and all of the definitions had to do with money. Here’s one of them: a great quantity or store of money, valuable possessions, property, or other riches. I guess that is wealth; and just because I agree that wealth has to do with material things, doesn’t mean that I don’t value things with sentimental value. I think that our society measures wealth through money and possessions, but just because I think wealth specifically has to do with money, doesn’t mean I think that way of other things. I think happiness, love, life; those things have nothing to do with money whatsoever. I think we “see too much excess” throughout material things. I also agree with “Erin K,” when she says that she doesn’t need all that she has, but she tries to enjoy it. Although on the contrary, I must say that we have so much useless stuff! And then we are lacking love and acceptance and happiness. We have stuff that is meaningless. It all just adds up to a whole lot of nothing. I don’t think success has anything to do with money or wealth. Success is so many things. You are successful if you feel at peace with what your life is, and what you’ve become. Who you are.
    When you say “we,” I have no idea what you mean. We as a class, as teenagers, as Americans, as humans? So I will just answer for Americans in general. I do think most Americans want more, however I can’t group all Americans into one stereotype or judgment. Some live very small lives, if that makes sense. They don’t have extravagant things. Then there are others that live in million dollar homes with Italian cars and ten guest bedrooms. I think “enough,” is what man can survive on in regards to material possessions. In life though, we can never hope, love, or dream enough. There are no limits on things like that, nor should there be.

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  7. I think that the talk of money has become taboo in our society. People no longer speak openly about personal finance. It’s sort of “hush hush” to talk about your financial problems or how well off you are. From a young age we are taught that having lots of money makes you successful. People are often defined by their wealth. It determines how successful you are. Financial success is often a reflection of success. The economy calls it successful; so does the media. In come cases, I believe being rich is seen as success. But wealth doesn’t always have to be talking about money. You could call yourself wealthy if you have lots of loved ones, or if good things happen to you. My definition of success is being happy, doing what I love. I think it’s human nature that we’re always wanting more; more money, more clothes, more technology, more cars etc. We want too much and give too little. We will never be content because things change. Life changes, situations change, the economy changes and nothing will ever remain constant. Our hopes and dreams and passions and desires change as well. But we will never stop wanting more.

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  8. I see material wealth as extraneous. Materialistic things aren't really needed for life, just for your comfort and enjoyment. I agree with what Erin K says, "I don't have anything against material wealth because honestly I don't want to live without some of the things I have." I think it's true that a lot of people would not like to give up their materialistic things they own, I wouldn't. It is nice to have them around but sometimes it can be a little too much. I see money as both helpful and harmful to people. It can be helpful because you can give something essential to someones life, or even save someones life. It can be harmful because it can cause people to become greedy and selfish and blind to the things that are more important, like family or friends or happiness. Wealth is having a lot of something with value. I think that we see money all around us, or things that cost a lot of money. I feel like people buy a lot of stuff that they don't use that often or spend their money in an unwise manor. I don't believe that your financial status is a reflection of your success because many people who are seen as the "bottom of the food chain" are very accomplished with their hard work. I feel like in that sense everything is backwards and not seen clearly. People who work hard for what they earn should not be put down for it by the people who do nothing and earn everything. I see success as accomplishments that are made by people themselves. I also see it as the happiness received from their accomplishments. I do believe that we are always wanting more, but its not necessarily a bad thing. If you want something you will strive for it which, in turn, could help everyone. I'm not sure if we are wanting too much because who is to say it's too much? I think that if your overflowing with inessential things and wanting more of the same, thats too much. I think that for some people being content and fulfilled is enough because they don't want/need anything else. Enough is enough when that person or someone they love realizes that money has taken over their whole mind set. If someones only goal in life was to be rich and nothing else and avoided everything in life that did not concern money, I believe that would be enough.

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  9. I agree with Erin that the material wealth in our society in not necessary. People have many different views on what wealth "means", such as money or success. To me, wealth is to be successful and to have true happiness. I believe your financial status does not show your true accomplishments. Your true accomplishments are success, true happiness, and peace with your yourself. However my opinions are completely different than societies. Today if you are rich, or have a nicer car, or bigger house, you have more power. You are considered more successful. However, sometimes you cant necessarily be successful without money. Without money, you can not get an education and the simple necessities in life. Without these things are you happy? We always strive for something that is bigger and better and we always are competing with each other to be the better man. However, sometimes this can be pushed to an extent where its way to much. We push the things we truly need the most, such as our close friends or family, just to get something more. Being content is never enough for us as human beings. Like I said, we always push ourselves because we all want to come out on top. Enough is enough when we realize that only one can be on top and that we will push ourselves to hurt others and leave others for our own self being. You will end up lonely and with absolutely nothing.

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  10. I do believe that money is necessary to an extent unlike Paige and Erin. I don't think that we could live very well without it, especially since we've all become so dependent on it. I do believe that it shouldn't be your only focus, but it is important and necessary in today's time. However, I do think that we depend on money to shape who we are. People who have more money and are able to afford more nice things, people tend to view them as successful. There are so many people who have potential but find it harder to be successful because of their lack of money. Doctors are seen as very successful people and I believe that's partially because they live in such luxury. Without a lot of money, they would not live so luxuriously and I do not believe they would be viewed as successful. There just seems to be a link between money and success and it shapes how we see people. I believe that success is doing your absolute best and accomplishing the goals you set before yourself. Since that's how I view success, I think that truly successful people are not very common because so many people want more and more. Their goals and standards get higher as they compare themselves with others and those goals become harder and harder to reach. If people didn't always want more, I think success wouldn't be quite as difficult to attain. Once you've hit a level of confidence and you know you've done what you can is the point where I think people should stop wanting. Sure, improvement is always a good thing, but if you can't reach a goal ever, you want too much. People really need to be confident in themselves and not worry about what other people think. That's not so important. Although it would be nice to be content with where we are and confident, I agree with Laura. We will never stop wanting more.

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  11. People are forced to conform to society and make money to survive. Money is just paper and metal but humans put value on it. In other countries many people don’t have money they live off the land. The year is 2012 and things have changed in America money plays a huge role in almost everyone’s life. With money comes wealth and only a few are really wealthy. It takes money to make money and that is why some people are wealthier than others. In America there is way too much excess everywhere. America makes up 5% of the population but uses a fourth of the recourses. People worry too much about their belongings and materialistic things. Everyone can cut back on things that are not unessicary to living. There is waste everywhere not only in pollution but pointless crap that is not needed. Social class and financial status do not reflect on how successful you are. People can be brought up in poverty and still find a way to succeed. Higher social class and people have more money but that doesn’t mean they are more successful. Just because you are born into wealth doesn’t mean you will make it in life. Success to me is being able to support yourself and or family and still do the things you enjoy. I think it is just natural to look for more success after you are doing very well. Some people take it way too far and become greedy and sucked up in their success. People need to learn to be humble and not hog all the wealth. It is not a bad thing to succeed in life but enough is enough when you are so wealthy and there are people suffering.

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  12. I agree with Chloe that, "materialistic things aren’t really needed for life, just for your comfort and enjoyment." To me, wealth is your happiness. If money is really what makes you happy then I suppose money is wealth, but to me it is my family and friends. We live in such a judgmental society now, if you don’t have the money to keep up with the trends and materialistic things then you are seen as a kind of outcast. Some people aren’t fortunate enough to be as well-off as others and I think it’s wrong for others to judge. While there are some people can't afford a food, others of us waste more than we actually consume. Whether or not people actually use something, they really want it for the appearance and how it will make them look. Our society, fashion, and material things are constantly changing and people are constantly conforming to them. We live in a culture of "out with the old, and in with the new." If people spend their lives focusing on material things and money, they will never be fully fulfilled because the "in" things are constantly changing.

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  13. My perception is that money can bring happiness, but there is a difference between being happy from material, and being fulfilled and content. Money is simply a means to an end, an end that can be totally awesome. People that say money does not buy happyness is full of crap, However, money cannot buy contentment and fulliflledness. If i had a billion dollars, I'd never work a day in my life, have suits made from gold thread and have a Bugatti Veyron. And I would be AMAZINGLY happy. Would I be fulfilled? Maybe not so much.

    Wealth is a very subjective thing. In some places in Africa, having enough money to buy bread and clothes regularly makes you the richest person in your whole damn village. For them, wealth is simple. Wealth is being able to provide for yourself and others. In good ol' AMURACA, wealth is much more cynamic and complicated. Because of the way our economy functions, we must buy things. Those not able to buy things we call poor, which is TOTALLY HORRIBLE OH MY GOD EWWW. And those able to buy things, are good, law abiding, and clean, smarter and obviously more important(This is dripping in sarcasm, by the way). It all is of course ridiculous since all our basic needs are met and we actually don't need all that much. Its how we are programmed, Buy Buy Buy!!!!

    Contentment and success are also pretty subjective. I believe that success is accomplishing your goals, and contentment and fulfilledment happens when you meet all your goals.

    Knowledge.

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  14. I agree with HayleyH that money is necessary to an extent. I think it would be very difficult to live without or with little money because today in our society everything costs money whether you like it or not. Money might not and should not be you main priority but it is a necessity. I think wealth is the “extra” money you have left over after you have bought the necessities like food, shelter, cloths, car, and kids. I do see a lot of excess wealth today in not only richer cities but even around my house. I think financial status does play a role in how successful someone is but not the only role. Other, more important roles would include your education, quality friends, happiness and having respect. I think a lot of people, including myself, are ALWAYS wanting more. It’s sad to say this but it is true. Most people don’t look at what they have before they start wanting again. Not only do people want more but they also want the new. I see this in my one life because the old can get boring and the new/different always looks more inviting. I think we want way way way to much. I personally don’t think enough will ever be enough because things get old, break, and slow down and there will always be the better looking or faster new cooler stuff to buy! So what I’m truly getting at is that everybody is selfish and greedy.

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  15. Money is great for creating stability and security, but if it is abused the consequences can be devastating. I constantly feel the need for more money to feel better about myself. Money can destroy people's lives though greed, indulgence, and fake attitudes. Society has tricked us into believing that we must depend on money for success, and wealth is related to money and material. However, wealth is actually the fulfillment of the individual's dreams and happiness. Today, we link success to iPods, celebrities, sex, fashion, and anything the media feeds to us. High school students obsess over grades in hopes to go to all of these prestigious colleges, so they can have a successful job, but often the job has nothing to do with what they love. Often, people with loads of money are depressed, because the money has become the definition of their life. In all actuality, they think it will make them successful, but it will leave them empty. I agree with Erika that fulfilling the life you dreamed is the real indicator of success, not your financial status. To me, if I were to be rich and have a life/job I hated, I would feel less successful than if I went for a career and lifestyle that I loved without the money. I believe someone will only want something more if something is actually missing. If a woman/man wants more of something (could be money, clothes, beauty, etc.) then what they actually want in their heart is to not feel empty, so they think they must fill up this space with materials. If you aren't constantly wanting more, then you most likely are content with your life. Being content or fulfilled is great, but you must continue to push the boundaries of everyday life or that complacence will turn stagnant. With this in mind, I think that enough is enough (regarding success, happiness, etc.) when you feel it is enough. Like I said, if you feel the need for more, something really is missing, but it isn't materials.

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  16. From a young age I feel like we are taught to strive for money. It’s always seen as a very positive thing, something you want. I agree with Hailey that we need money in our world today. Everything revolves around it. However I don’t think we need the excess of money that many of us have. Personally I see wealth as something that keeps me from becoming the person I want to be. I can get so caught up in material things and wanting more that I forget to focus on what really matters in life. It makes me greedy. “Wealth” is usually defined in terms of money. If you have more than enough money you are considered wealthy. I agree with Laura though when she says that wealth does not have to be about money. Wealth can be being happy with your life and knowing you have people you love around you. I think that we absolutely see too much excess today. Like Hailey said we as humans always want more. We live in a world where material things are praised and having too much is a good thing. People want more clothes, more food, more money and we see nothing wrong with that. We take so much for granted, not realizing how fortunate we are. Our hunger for more never seems to die and we feel the need to constantly feed it. I don’t think financial status has to be a reflection of how successful you are, it can be, but it’s not the only deciding factor. Success is being happy with where you are at in life, no one else can really measure your success. I agree with Chloe that success can be making accomplishments. Accomplishing something doesn’t have to do anything with how much money you have. Success is being happy with yourself and feeling proud of what you have accomplished. Like I said before we, as humans, are always wanting. All of us are all guilty of it, it’s in our nature. We want what we don’t need and when we get it we want something else. It becomes excessive, thinking we need these things when in reality we don’t. I don’t know if people can ever be fully content or fulfilled. We can find fulfillment and content for short periods of time but it never seems to last. At first it’s enough to be content but that contentment always fades. Chloe makes a good point by saying that enough is enough when you realize you’ve let money turn you into something you never wanted to be. You let material things get in the way of who you are as a person to the point that you have changed completely. Paige is right when she says that you will end up lonely with nothing if you let money overpower everything else in your life.

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  17. I agree with Abby about how she says that money can literally destroy you or be a positive thing. It is necessary to a certain extent, but its often about how you use it and if you abuse it, and like I said, it can either make or break you. Wealth greatly corresponds to your social class, the amount of money you have, and if you have the ability to use it in a positive way, and not abuse it, which happens far too often with a lot of people. I agree with Tanner about how we see excess wealth every day, whether it be in a wealthy city, or even certain things in our own homes that we know we could live without. Your financial status often shows a slim factor of how successfull you are, but that is definitely not the only factor that shows your success, but thats what everyone thinks because thats how society makes it out to be. To me the main meaning of success is your happiness, your opportunities, your acomplishments, and all of the obstacles that you have made it through in life. I feel like the majority of us are always wanting more, because its natural for all of us to want nice, luxurious things that can make us happy. I strongly agree with the point Laura made when she said, "We want too much, and give too little." Because that is very true about a lot of people these days. I definitely think that being content and fulfilled is forsure a positive thing, and is often enough, but if that does not satisfy you, you should think about how lucky you are and how greatful you should be about everything you have. And I really like what Will P said at the end of his, how if being content and fulfilled does not please you enough, that something is definitely missing in your life, but it most likely should not be material.

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  18. I think that wealth can be defined in many different ways. In terms of material wealth and money, wealth is having enough money for everything that you need and plenty more for things that you want. Need and want are two completely separate concepts that people mix up all the time. If you walk around a store like Target you can hear kids pleading with their parents, "But I need it!" Do they really need that new action figure or doll? No. They want it. I think that we do see to much excess wealth today. People are spending money left and right, which is great for the economy, but what good does it really do? I think that we are spiraling downward into dependence on material things. Many people would go crazy after just one day without their cell phones. In a couple of months, those same cell phones will be outdated, and thousands of people will upgrade a perfectly good phone just for a fancier one. We are always wanting more. Even looking at kids again, they beg for one toy but forget about it the next day when they see a commercial for another cool toy. The children of our society portray these concepts in simplicity.Like Shelby said, children are taught to strive for money. Children are also pick up the little habits of want and demand for more and more from the people around them. I don't think that we are ever really content with what we have. Wealth is so common in our country that we can't really even grasp the concept of true poverty. I don't think that financial status is a reflection of success. Just because some people live in poverty doesn't mean that they can't be successful in their own eyes. Maybe their success of the day is bringing home a good meal for their family. Who are we to say what success is for everyone? For each person it is their own. To me success is graduating high school, going to college and getting a job that I enjoy. Success to me is not about how much money I make someday. It is about me being happy with where I am in life.

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  19. Money, Money, and Money, those are the words you hear everyday and almost everyone complains about it. Having wealth is different for everyone, someone might say wealth is giving everyone a meal in your family, to giving your 16 year old a brand new audi. Wealth to me means having more money then truly needed, or spending money on random goods. Financially the typical family in America has too much excess from cars, pets, and houses. Americans are known for having to much stuff, and I feel we really need to hold back. I come from a financially wealthy family, which makes me strive to be the best. My Dad taught my that in order to be wealthy you need to succeed young. Being wealthy myself has also taught that giving back feels much better then receiving. Success to me is being the fullest I can be without over trying. Achieving more then expected is true success, showing people your better then they expected is my success. As a society we are always wanting more! From the newest iPhone to the brand new BMW M6. People want to show their wealth by buying things and making it official they have wealth. People including me always want more, I remember when I "needed" the new iPhone, because it would keep me up with technology. People say they are fulfilled but really its just a cover up and to know if your truly fulfilled you need to be dirt poor and realize what you truly have. I believe enough is enough NOW, we need to stop showing our wealth and pointing out people for their own. More saving then spending needs to become in place.

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  20. I really agree with Erin. Being successful doesn't mean who has the most money. Being successful means reaching your own personal goals and maybe over achieving them too. I also agree with Abby when she talks about what wealth means to her. Wealth doesn't have to all do with money but also your outlook on life. Its almost like a rich piece of cake. It looks plain and simple on the outside but once you take a bite its so sweet and rich and full of flavor. A person can look plain and simple on the outside and not be wealthy at all but can be the most wealthy person on the inside just by his or her attitude and or personality. I don't think your financial status has anything to do with your success. Maybe you are a simple person and don't care to much for items and only want the necessities you need to live like a home and food and transportation. Being successful only has to do with what your own personal goals are and if you reach or fail them. It has nothing to do with making all the money in the world. Success is ones goals that are met or possibly over achieved. I feel like in our generation, we wont stop. Everyone always expect new and better ways to do everything. For example, the iPhones. They never quite coming up with new ways and new things for them. But we all egg them on because we always always buy the newest things. I do not think us as a universe will ever be content with the things we come up with. We always have to top the new best thing. I think enough is enough when new inventions start harming our society. Eventually nothing is ever going to be good enough for someone and pretty soon people will start fighting and arguing about it which could cause a lot of disruption.

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  21. I think of material goods and wealth as anything that is not necessary for everyday life. Houses, cars and food are all vital to our lives however mansions, Hummers, and Food courts are all unnecessary luxuries enjoyed my the wealthy. I belief that wealth is over used in our country, however i do not think it is a bad thing. In my opinion if you are fortunate enough to be exceedingly wealthy then you should use it to do what ever you want. If you truly want to put spinning rims on a golden segway and have the money to do it, then i think you should go right ahead. Although there are better uses for the money that is spent on material goods it is up to the individual do make their own purchases. In our world success is reflected in how wealthy you are.Our entire lives we are told to focus mainly on how to receive more money in the future. Because our society is focused so much o money how wealthy you are is a good reflection of how successful you are. humans naturally are competitive and because of that we wast success in the form of wealth. i don't think it is possible to "want" to much, because what we "want" is success. Other then driving a car and using coupons there are to limits. Our natural drive never tells us that we have enough and therefore, i don't think we can ever have enough to keep ourselves content for long periods of time.

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  22. Wealth to me really does not mean much to me. It is not like if I don’t have money I will die this I s because family means more than money. But yes in America it is all about how much money you or your family has. To me that is wrong. How can we let money decided how we hang with your who is socially accepted to you. How can money or wealth have this much control? Is there a point when it as to much power over us? Plus some us can mot except what we have is it but they always want more so they can get the coolest thing on the block. So in my mind money does have too much power over us today and we need to change that.

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  23. Money/wealth is what makes the world go round.I personally think Money is the biggest problem we have in this world today. When we have money it starts dividing people into social classes and determines how much power you have over everyone else. Money also causes fighting because people get greedy and want it at whatever cost. It is an evil thing.I also think that your financial status does not reflect how successful you are. It shows how successful you are in a social society but it doesn't show how successful you are in life. Success to me is living life, not by obtaining social status and material goods. If I were to become wealthy I know it would blind me from what is really going on in the world. In our society today, we want to much. I think kids always want the newest coolest thing and that is the same for adults. It is just human nature driving us to want things but money defiantly adds fuel to the fire.To be content/happy every one of us has to do whatever we love. If we get blinded by money,material goods and power we will never be happy or content with our self's.

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  24. My perception of money is that I need it, I also really want it. Without money I feel as though I can't do anything. Without money I think I stress out way more than necessary. Seriously, so many things depend on my pay check it is out of control. I have to pay for gas, lunch, car payments, and so on, without money I don't think I could live. This makes me seem very superficial but honestly I think money is a good thing, buying the latest style might not be on the top of my list, but providing for myself and having some money left over to do fun things is at the top of my list. I want to be happy but being happy incorporates having a successful job and making lots of money. I think wealth has a bad stereotype connected to it. Wealth can mean immense amounts of money, but also wealth can mean an excessive amount of really anything. Wealth could mean happiness or contentedness. I think that your financial statement is an outlook on how well you are doing. Without money you can't really progress in a business, it definitely defines how successful you are. I think success is achieving goals, it's different for everyone. When I think of success I think of what I want to do out of high school, I think of the business world. In the business world I think a lot of students will change their mind of success because they have to provide on their own and success will turn into being able to pay the bills every month or eating the next day. I think success can also be based on how focused you are on money, because I believe that money is necessary then I believe having a stable financial system is being successful, someone who doesn't believe that money is necessary might believe that success is being happy. I think that we are always wanting more, but I don't think that's a bad thing. Without wanting more we wouldn't have new inventions or new styles, life would be completely different. Being content can be defined differently to everyone so yes, I think that being content is enough. But again, I think that being content would be having a stable income and/or having enough to have fun and enjoy life. I agree with Laura, she makes great points about the wealth not being just about money and also the financial system being a 'hush' sort of taboo in today's economy.

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  25. To me money is a way out, it’s easy. Once it’s obtained people seem to gain a sense of freedom like money means happiness and that’s one less thing they have to work for. You don’t build character by getting everything handed to you. Having to work through life and finding love when you least expect it and not letting money define who you are or how you act will make for an amazing unique person living in true happiness. You have to be happy with all that you are and know what you have doesn’t matter before you can truly love and share your life with someone else. Me and my boyfriend just have dinner at one of our houses or do picnics or other simple dates where no money had to be spent because it wasn’t ever about what we did it was that we were spending time together.
    I’d like to think that there are rock stars that don’t think of themselves as more successful than everyone else, but that they are lucky and extremely happy to be doing something they love for a living. I would so much rather be happy with my work and my life than only work hard to look good or successful to other people. I think if someone wants to be a lawyer or a doctor and that is their only focus for 10 years of their lives and they are happy during and in the end, they are successful. If someone wants to be a florist, buys a shop and starts selling bouquets without any experience, if that’s what makes them happy then they are successful! As long as people are living for themselves and by their own values and morals and learning from others but not letting judgments change them in a negative way, then they are successful.
    I think wanting more is just a characteristic of humanity. For a long time it was believed that we are the center of the universe and there is still the question of it our planet is the only place where life can form and thrive life. Some people seem to think that we are the most important thing in the universe and if something is possible we should have access to it. Like I said earlier you don’t get any value from having things handed to you. Everything means more to a person that truly works for it and that makes a more sweet, genuine and thankful person!
    I don’t think hoping for things is a bad thing but expectations to an extent can hurt people. I know that with a guy I liked last year, I felt that if I did all this stuff for him that he would give me a chance. I had the expectation that if I showed him enough love there was no way he couldn’t feel the same way back or at least feel something and I just got hurt. For the last few weeks I have had a certain expectation around my prom dress and how I was going to ask my boyfriend. Found out today that neither of them are going to work out. Because of my expectations I was let down. It was all things I was hoping for; all things that I wanted. I know I want a lot for us as a couple and for me as an individual in my life but that’s a different want than possession kind of want. It’s natural to want things but true happiness means you don’t need really any of it to live a good life.

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  26. Here is the rest... Blogger only let me type so much per post.
    Reading a response like Chris’s just confuses me. He states that happiness cause by money alone is materialistic. Some people can be completely happy with that mind set but only because they haven’t been exposed to reality. People that can be fulfilled are those that know everything has a value and some just cannot be bought, like love and trust, caring relationships. Content and fulfilled is not enough for me. There is so much I could go out and do for myself as one single person to be happier than that. Sing my heart out on a corner downtown and any tips I make are given to actual homeless people as I drive to my job at Best Buy. Do I really like working no but do I honestly love making my own money… making more money than my mother and her partner are making in a week. Knowing I can support myself. Know I got the job myself and work my ass off to learn everything I need for the floor and hopefully be in the top 5 sales people like my boyfriend last week before we are 18! When I can look back on y life and see all that I have done to create the person I am. All the mistakes I made that tore me apart and I still hate today but know I will forgive them, forgive myself and grow from them. Even if I live in the same house for the rest of my life… God it doesn’t matter. If I was happy throughout my life. If happiness and love were my goals in life and I have an amazing husband and perfect children to prove it, that’s enough. I don’t care how much money I die with cause like Mrs. Comp said I won’t take my money with me and that won’t mean much when I’m gone, that won’t be what is remembered. It will be my journey my story. Being truly proud of my legacy… that’s enough.

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  27. Material wealth can be a toxic blessing. Wealth can be defined as a large amount of money or possessions. I believe this definition to be suitable for material wealth. In American society, material wealth is drowning any chime of substantial wealth. I see two different kinds of wealth. One can be prosperous in spirit and also in goods. Spiritual wealth, wealth regarding relationships and internal satisfaction, has greater value. Financial status is a reflection on how successful one might be in worldly measures, though this kind of success can mean little. Success to me is achieving a goal; whether that goal can be measured or not. I believe that our society always wants more. I think we have been raised to think that if we had more money, status or friends than we would be happier. It is an endless chase to attain a shallow happiness. Enough, and content can fill ones cup, though others who are lacking a deeper sense of satisfaction will never have enough. Money cannot fill a void. Money is not everything. Money is the thin surface that we have been blinded to see as the heart of happiness.

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