Monday, March 28, 2011

Money, Money, Money

Please answer the follwing 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 being thorough 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? (Do not do this one till Wed. 30th).

29 comments:

  1. My perception of wealth and money is that people use it to measure how successful someone is. Is that a true measurement of it? I believe that is definitely plays a role in determining things such as that but I don't think it can be the only thing to determine it. I would say that wealth takes on a couple meanings. It is how much money one has and nice possession, but it is also how happy someone is. Adam Smith, one of the first capitalists states that wealth is pretty much based on how happy someone is with their work and if their work benefits society. This can be true but wealth is also how much money one can have. There is a lot of excess in today's society, however we usually find some way to use it. Success, I believe, is based on happiness, if you are happy, you are successful. With this said, I don't think that financial status determines whether one is successful or not. We do always want more. We see things that are nice and cool and we want them. It is human nature in this society. So, being content should be enough, however, because we wish to have more and more, it isn't enopugh in today's society. Strive for more than content. Go above and beyond. Enough is enough when you start harming yourself or others to have what you want. So you can work to get more but you cross the line when you harm your physical and mental health, other's physical and mental health, and hurt opportunities.

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  2. I believe that wealth is not measured by a paycheck, but rather it is measured by how happy and satisfying one's life is. I have had the opportunity to travel the world and see how other people live their lives outside of my own bubble. I have witnessed people that are making barely enough money to survive that are living perfectly fulfilling lives. To them, having good relationships with their loved ones or being helathy is enough to make their life complete. This has inspired me to strive to live my life the same way. Another example would be celeberities living in Hollywood. Those that are in the spotlight and have way too much money often are dealing with many problems and are not living the "dream" life behind the scenes. I do agree that while having enough money to have a house, a car and take great vacations are wonderful luxuries, it is not at all a measure of one's success.

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  3. In the United States people flaunt their money. It's all about how big your house is, what neighborhood you live in, what kind of car you drive, what you wear, and how much money you make. This wasn't the case 50 years ago. If you were well off you didn't show it, many people today are gauche. It used to be that people would save their wealth and it would be passed down from generation to generation. Today the nouveau riche don't know what to do with their accumulated wealth so they go out and spend it on material things. There is definitely too much excess and want today. We are constantly wanting more and never seem to be satisfied. Americans have so much and are wasteful. We throw out food and our cars guzzle gas. It hardly ever crosses our minds that people in other countries do not have clean water to drink, or food to eat, and sleep on a dirt floor. Things we take for granted are what they long for. To some people driving a luxury car, living in an oversized house, and being able to afford whatever you want is success. However success is all about your perception. Success to me is being content with and appreciating what you have. It's serving others and working to make yourself a better person. If all you worry about is money and material goods you will never be happy or fulfilled. Something will always be missing. Nothing will ever be enough because you will always want more. If you realize that there is so much more to life than material things, you'll know when enough is enough and focus on what you need instead of what you want.

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  4. My perception of wealth is how much money someone has to spend on material items. You need food, water, shelter and clothing to get through a day but do you really need that new 10,000 inch flat screen TV? Does your 9 year old really need that ipad? I don't think so. That is what the world is based on today. Having the newest and best things. Some people don't think about the logistics. A 9 year old does not need an ipad or an iphone or a TV in their room. BUT if you can afford it, why not? Because someone else out there can't even afford to live in their house another month, but your 9 year old needs that ipad...I don't think your financial status is a reflection of how successful you are. I think of success as being happy doing what your doing, keeping a roof over the family's head, feeding your dog so it doesn't starve to death in the backyard. Simple things. Success also means to me, that you're good at what you do. Whether you make a ton of money or not, if you're good at something then I would call that success. People these days are constantly wanting more. The working cellphone is no match for the new iphone! Is getting that new phone really going to make you happier? Maybe for the moment but in the whole realm of things that iphone will be the last thing you're worried about when you find yourself working a deadend job that you hate. I honestly don't think anything will ever be enough. New matieral items come out every month and people just keep on wanting each time. Is it really that difficult to appreciate the little things in life? Is everyone realy oblivious to how much money they spend as opposed to someone who got evicted from their house last month? What about people in other countries who would give anything for ONE meal everyday? Why can't we think about these things before we go blow our next paycheck on a new phone, ipod, etc?

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  5. I see material wealth and money as a good thing to have if it is used properly with good responsibility and discipline. Some people in our society tend to think all the rich people are selfish. That isn’t true. Yes, not every rich person is generous but think of people like Oprah Winfrey who donate millions and millions of dollars to deserving people around the world every year. How sweet is that? If used correctly money can be very fulfilling and help many struggling people out there. I agree with Garrett E. when he said that in today’s society success is measured by how much money or how wealthy you are. I agree and I do not think money means everything or that you should be measured by it. There is so much more than that dollar. In general, wealth is the value of your life socially, mentally, and physically. In health class this year, I heard a saying, “the greatest wealth is your health.” I couldn’t agree more. I know personally what if feels like to be very sick and very uncertain about the future. Fortunately I have been blessed with the ability to get a grip on my health. It is truly just plain beautiful to be able to feel good and have that opportunity to live a healthy life. When I was younger, I used to be very, very alert with money and when I was sick I could care less about the medical bills. All that mattered was my health. Another thing that has stuck with me is what my old gym teacher Mr. B. used to say to the class whenever we had to do the mile run. Lots of people would complain and he would tell us how blessed we are to be able to run today and how there are disabled people in the world with all the money they would ever need that would willingly give every single penny of it just to be able to go out there and run or walk one more time. I do believe there is too much excess today with all the bling, cars, houses, or whatever but how someone spends their money is that person’s choice and at least it stimulates the economy. If I had that much money I think it would be hard to resist all of the glamour. We all are humans with our imperfections. I believe financial success measures your ability to be a good capitalist (and possibly your opportunities and work ethic) but it definitely should not determine the value of who you are or what you stand for. Success to me is not measured in money (I try to measure my success mostly (not completely) on the inside) but I would like to have money so I could afford to buy some nutritious food, not have to worry about making ends meet, and to pay for things that require the U.S. dollar.
    CONTINUED ON PART 2

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  6. PART 2
    Success reminds me of the American Dream how it used to be more general for the population but now I believe it is more individualistic. Success (based on my perception of society) was just your average life making a modest living, working the 9 to 5 job, and having a good, healthy family. Now there is nothing wrong with that, absolutely nothing. To have a good healthy family is success. That still may determine success but I see now that success tends to lean more individualistic. Maybe it is fame, money, notoriety, a college you want to go to, a relationship you want to have, a job you want to work, or a location in this world you want to be. I see success as reaching your dreams that you believe will make you happy (whether they will or not) for the average individual in today’s world. We are taught to want more and to be ambitious from a young age in this capitalistic society. We are told we can be president and there is nothing wrong with that because it is saying don’t settle on something you don’t want. That can be interpreted good or bad. Good: a friend of mine gave up a high paying corporate job because that wasn’t who she is, she wanted to chase her dreams, and find something more within. Bad: Feeling jipped because you are not a mega millionaire. Feeling content and satisfied is different for everyone and like Samantha L, I believe our wants and expectations can get out of control. Some people have to walk 5 miles each way for clean water and we complain about our stupid, “out of date” I-phone. There is way more to life than texting and shopping. America as a whole should change some habits and views but it is you that has to make the change and say, “Enough, is enough.”

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  7. After reading a few prompts I agree with Rachel that money doesn't measure success yet happiness does. Sure wealth can make life easier but it will not buy you happiness. Your probably thinking that Madison your crazy, you don't think a nice car will not make me happy or a beach house will either. At times I do think that it does but the truth is that I don't think it does. When I look at my surroundings around me I am pretty content and thankful for my blessings. This does not mean I am perfect though. I am definitely guilty of wanting the newest baddest thing on the market, not going to lie. But in the end it doesn't really matter. Sometimes I get into thinking that this "object" is going to make me happy. When I finally get this "item" my expectations are always never reached and I eventually find something else that I want. This is why I believe materials cant bring happiness. I am not proud of this thinking and I do my best to steer myself away from "wanting." You are not a bad person if you have these luxuries, you obviously have worked to get to where you are. However the real question you should be asking yourself is "Do I really need this?" I am not here to preach but honestly there is no denying that this nation is very wealthy. I heard today from someone that the we are the top 5% of the wealthiest people in the world. To me this is a pretty striking statistic. All I have to say is that we should all count our blessings and take note of others.

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  8. I think that money is something in the world that really hurts our society. Today, money is something that automatically puts people in a social class and it even effects what they are capable of doing in life. In my opinion, money CAN be a symbol of how hard someone worked, but it can also be a false indicator or a person’s work ethic. A lot of people are given money from there parents or relatives so in reality they haven’t worked for anything. I think that wealth is a relative term. Being wealthy in one society can change in another. One this that is sickening in our society today is the amount of excess that we, as Americans, think we need. We need one more iPod, one more TV, one more cookie. That is just they way we think in America, nothing ever satisfies us and I think that that is a very sad thing. We should be able to be satisfied with one TV, I’m not saying that I am, because I struggle with always wanting more as well, but it is something that we as a society could all work on. We never really stop wanting though, we always want to next thing. It is a disappointing reality to come to terms with. I think that success is one of the most, if not the most misinterpreted word today. People always relate success to money, but in reality it has nothing to do with money. Success is being satisfied and happy with accomplishing something in your life. Being successful to me is not the amount of money I have in my bank, but whether or not I have maintained my integrity, if I have a happy family and a loving wife, and being able to lay in bed at night and not regret anything that I have done.

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  9. I have a couple different perceptions of material wealth/money. One of which is that money can almost be like a drug. Once you make a little you want to make more. Just like when you make a lot you want to make more. And because money can be like a drug, I think it is very capable of making men corrupt. Another perception I have is that having a lot of money is over rated. If you make a lot of money are you truely, unconditionaly happy? I think in most cases the answer is no.
    I think there are different kinds of "wealth". Being physically wealthy would be having a lot of money. Where as, being wealthy with loved ones or with family is a completely different thing. In my opinion, being wealthy in a metaphoric sense is much more important than being wealthy in a physical sense. I feel like there are a lot of people in the world today that would disagree with that but once they are rich and alone they will understand.
    I also think there are different kinds of being successful. I think that people use the adjuctive "successful" to describe people with a lot of money and a great job. But a lot of people don't think about being successful in life as a whole. Let's say there are two men. One man owns a multimillion dollar company but has divorced three times and hasnt seen his only son in 10 years. The other man is a poorly paid designer doing what he loves that is happily married with 3 kids living in a 1 level house in suburbia Denver. Which man is more successful?
    Success to me is at the end of everyday, being truely happy and proud of the life you live. Which is honestly frustrating because of the society we live in. People look up to guys like Charlie Sheen rather than the average Joe working hard day by day.
    Sadly, yes we are always wanting too much. People generally "want" more. It's the scary truth that people can't be satisfied witht their lives. When this was brought up yesterday in class it sent my brain on a trip of thoughts. One question stood out to me that came up in my mind; Is absolute happiness even possible?

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  10. I agree with Mitch when he says that money can be a symbol of how hard someone worked but that it can also be a false indicator of somebody's work ethic because you can have jobs where all you really do is sit around and make tons of money and be successful if you go by how much money you are making but if we are going by how hard you worked to make that money then by those terms you wouldn't be that successful. My perception of money that it is a booster for life but also a title maker or status symbol. I say this because if you have a lot of money or are wealthy then you will generally live in a neighborhood that is also wealthy and surround your self with people with the same life style. Lets be honest people with six or more figure pay checks aren't ever associated with people that are homeless or making 10,000 to 20,000 dollars a year. "Wealth" to me is having money to spend after paying for the essentials of life and after paying the bills. Think about it you don't judge someone on how wealthy they are by how much food they buy or how much their bills are you judge how wealthy they are by how much money is in their wallet, what kind of clothes they wear, what kind of car they are driving, and how big their house is. And of course we see too much excess in todays society I mean look at the NFL lock out it's all about money. It's just millionaires that want more millions. How can you not see an excess there when there are owners of teams paying for a brand new 1.3 billion dollar stadium out of their pocket? Why do they even need more? If your financial status is a reflection of how successful you are then the players and executives of every team are at the top of our society and they don't even do anything to hard, yes they are good at what they do and the best in the world at it but 6 year olds can do what they do. To me success is being the best and fulfilling your potential at what you are doing and by that definition the players and executives of the NFL are successful. But why do they need more? Why do we always want more? I think it's because when you get something a few weeks or months they have something better or the exact same thing but faster there is always something new and better than what we have so then when we get something we have to get that next thing. Thats why we will always want more in my opinion. And yes I feel like we do want too much and I struggle with this constantly, one example is buying lunch is a simple one. I could easily bring my lunch everyday and save me and my family $5 a day but I don't, I buy lunch almost every day because I want to, I'm not satisfied with what I could have to save money. If I could just be fulfilled or content with what I have I feel like that would be enough for me personally and for generations above us it is. If I could even be a little like my parents it would be enough. My parents see new technology and see that its faster and say "Eh we don't need it, we can be patient and wait a few extra seconds for a web page to load." I think enough is enough when jobs and the economy, which affects everyone, are at risk because thats when you have to think of others. I mean look at the lock out again. If those players and executives aren't spending their millions how much worse would our economy be if spending and keeping money flowing is how to make it better? There will never be enough though because they will still make millions doing something so I don't think there will be a day anytime soon where enough is enough.

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  11. I agree with Garrett E. when he says that money is usually how people measure how successful a person is. If people have a large income then they are usually known to be successful where as people who make a lower income are judged as needing to become more successful to make more money. In some ways I believe that money is an aspect of what makes someone successful but I don’t think that’s the only thing that determines success. If people can make a good living for themselves and their family, accomplish goals they have set for themselves and feel good about what they are doing, I think that is what makes a person successful. My grandfather always says that people have “buckets”. There is a “bucket” for money, personality, family, friends, talents and happiness. When he meets someone who is a well-rounded person he always says that they have “full buckets”. To me, this is what wealth means. I don’t think it necessarily means that have a lot of money, but that you have lots of happiness in your life, you make a decent amount of money, you have great friends that love you for who you truly are, and a family that is there for you no matter what. I definitely think that there is too much excess in our world today. People don’t just have what they need but have so much of what they want. I don’t think that your financial status defines how successful you are. I think that it says that you may have worked hard to get to a position that allows you to have lots of money but if other aspects in your life aren’t rich, then money means nothing. Success to me means that you continually set goals for yourself in life and strive to accomplish them and once you have, you are happy with what you have done. I do think in this world we are constantly wanting more. I think that to want is a natural thing, everyone wants something, but does it get to a point where you should be satisfied eventually with what you have? I think that our world should start learning to be content with what they have and make the best out of it, after all, you’re never going to get everything you ever wanted. What you have should eventually be enough.

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  12. I think whether people want to admit to it or not, Money is something that everyone thinks about a good portion of the time. I agree with Rachel W. though, it is not about having the fancy cars and nice houses, being wealthy to me is about having happiness in my life whether its laughing with my friends or hanging out with my family. I agree that having a nice car and having a fancy house would be a nice luxury to have but it is not necessary. A lot of today's world revolves around technology making people happy and like what Katy R. said that 9 year olds do not need an Ipad to have fun or to be the coolest kid in school. All they really want to do is play with their friends. Parents don't realize sometimes that having the coolest new thing doesn't make you "wealthy". To a lot of 9 year olds think wealth to them is having fun outside or playing some kind of imaginary game. Success to me is fulfilling my dreams and being at a good point in my life no matter if it's with family or with a job that I am happy with and have a comfortable income, but either way having a ton of money or not doesn't really matter. A lot of people today judge others on what kind of job they have and if they make a good living, I can't say I haven't done that but is that the right thing to do? No, I don't think it is because it doesn't matter what kind of job a person has, as long as they are happy and comfortable with their financial income that's just fine! We should never judge by how successful someone is because they might be more successful in other ways like with their family and friends. I think we do want too much and take for granted what do have. Like what Sam L. said some people have to walk a long ways just to get fresh water and we complain about so much on a day-to-day basis and so now other countries look down on us for being so spoiled. I think it is time we get a grip and change!

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  13. I agree with Mitch when he said money CAN be a symbol of how hard someone has worked but it can also be a false indicator. I don't think money should measure how successful a person is in life. I think people use it as a way though because they cant measure other things about people as easy. Your paycheck is an easy way to compare yourself to other people but things like family and friends isn't. You can have the most money in the world but still not be "wealthy". I agree with the ever famous quote "money cant buy happiness". Success to me is just having a great family and friends. Money comes after them on the priority list for me. This doesn't mean i don't think its not important. Being financially stable can just make life less stressful and more comfortable. I think people are always wanting more; Its programed into us. I think most of this world just always want more. They always want the next best thing even if they don't NEED it. People never really know what they have until they lose it. I'm not really sure if its possible to ever be truly satisfied. I believe you can be content with your life but deep down inside you always want more. I don't this is bad though i think it is good to want more. You always need to have something to work for. You have to keep dreaming in life.

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  14. My perception of wealth is based on how much money someone makes and what kind of material goods someone might own. I think that is also how the world views wealth as well, when they first think about it. Think about it, we idolize those that are the "wealthiest" in our society, we are constantly spending hundreds on what will make us look "wealthy" and we try to get those jobs that will pay the most to have "wealth". I think this is a negative perception of wealth but its the truth. However, when you think in detail about what wealth really is, I come to agree with Rachel and Madison. I think that happiness and how you make your life enjoyable can also be considered wealth, and those living to the fullest not worrying so much about money are the truly "wealthy" people in our society because they understand that money doesn't just make you wealthy, happiness does too. The dictionary would define wealth as: the state of being rich and affluent, and I would agree. However what is doesn't specify is what kind of rich. I think that wealth is how rich you in not only in money, but in happiness, like Zach L said, rich in health, rich in love, family and friends, and rich in enjoying the beauty that is around you in the world and not so much the "beauty" in electronics, nice clothes, cars and so on that make you wealthy. I think yes, that we see to much excess in the world today because once something new comes out, people have to have what just came out. What is wrong with the phone, ipod, tv, computer that you just bought last year, or a few years ago? We are constantly wanting more, which brings on that unnecessary excess in today's world. I don't think your financial status is a reflection of how successful you are because since we are in a recession, many people have been laid off, and have lost some sort of income, however even though they are not making as much money, or no money at all, they are still the same successful person that was hired before the recession. Also there are many "successful" people in the world that hardly make any money or no money period. For example, the Pope makes no money, but yet millions of people still look to him as successful. Although at the same time, I also think that your financial status reflects how successful you are and an example would be for instance Bill Gates. He makes millions and he is successful. I guess that question depends on how you as an individual define the world successful.

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  15. Which leads me to the next question. I think that success is what you accomplish in your life to the fullest, and what you make of it. Prosperity, happiness, and accomplishment of a purpose or dream define the word success. Whether you want to make millions or you want to find a spouse and have a family, its a purpose in life that you want to accomplish, and that is success. I think that we are always wanting more, and we can never be happy with what we have, because as I said above those "successful" people are always inventing new products that we "have to have" when really we just want them. So yes I would also say that we "want" too much as well. I also think that it is part of our society and lifestyle that affect that because we are fortunate to live in a country of a more lavish lifestyle that can always buy more and want more, whereas those in third world countries that are struggling to just live another day, are not constantly thinking about something they want, and are thinking more about a means to survive. We live in luxury and most don't have to worry about that, so we have time to fill our minds with want. I think that being content or fulfilled is enough but society I think would disagree, because I don't think that we know how to but fulfilled, I think that there is always an emptiness inside of us because we want more and more and we want to find how to be content or fulfilled instead of just trying to feel it. I personally don't know when enough is enough. Jennifer Angel from the NY Daily News wrote, "Each day we catch a glimpse of our life. We evaluate, are we happy and are we satisfied, what's missing and what do we crave? Our days are preoccupied with worry and stress, things that need to be done and bills that need to be paid. It might appear that we are constantly chasing the next best thing instead of taking a moment to stop and appreciate the life that we have already created for ourselves." So I think that once we realize and take a moment to stop then enough would be enough.

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  16. I agree with Garret. Money plays a role in who we are. Money can transform you into a person that you don’t want to be but you don’t even realize it since you are so caught up in your material wealth. People do work hard for their money so they can show in some ways that material wealth. Wealth is something that is measured on what you have. In some ways we see it and in some ways we don’t. People that drive nice cars may have earned them, but they are still showing their wealth. Other times you may not even see someone is wealthy because that isn’t what they are about. I believe that today your financial status is a way of showing how successful you are. People worked hard to be where they are at and if you get to the top you make a lot of money which shows success. Sometimes that is not the case though. A teacher may not make the most money in the world but if they work for 20 or more years they may be the most successful teacher but no one would ever know since they don’t make bank. Success is working to where you fulfill yourself. This can vary from person to person though. One person may think they are successful for graduating high school but another person could think they are successful for working their whole life in the medical field. People may always want more but they may never get it. Wanting may go too far though. If you want to win the lottery, that probably won’t happen. But if you want to be the best at what you do, more power to you. Go out and prove it. There may be a time at which you hit a breaking point and reality sets in. This is the point when you have to be content at where you are since you can’t get to where you want to be.

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  17. Like many other people have said, I think Garrett has a really good point about how money is used and I believe that money can hide true values. For a man who might have it all($$), he may have nothing(family). I guess in some ways you can measure success with how much wealth you have but its in a different category than real success. Real success is only defined by your own meaning. I feel to be successful, you have had to have a vision of who you want to be and what you want to be. As soon as this person has reached their goal, they have succeeded in what they wanted to do. Success shouldnt be measured in large amounts. Success can only be measured by self meaning. Unfortunately, big CEO's and presidents of large corporations feel they are at the top. Thats great then, they think they are successful because they have reached the top of what they want. Now after this happens they have to go brag about it and make the "successful people" who have done their own great little things feel like crap because someone else rubbed it in their face that they did so much better. I believe enough is enough when you yourself feel happy with the work you have done and the benefits it has brought for only you. You cant measure success by the man sitting next to you.

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  18. Wealth today is viewed as what kind of car you drive, or how big your house is. Which is totally ridiculous. Its insane to judge someone on what they drive. Wealth is measured by how you live not where you live. You could have all the money in the world but if you spend your life in the office what does it matter? I don't think that money is a real determination of how successful someone is. I think that if they are truly happy with every aspect of their life is when someone is successful because then your just happy. And i think we put these labels on ourselves because we see the man on the magazine and thats what we think we need. we've been brought up to believe that in order to be successful you need to make as much money as you can as fast as you can. But again i believe the only important thing is whether or not your happy. But again we think that all these expensive things will make us happy. But in reality money just makes things more complicated. Mo money Mo problems right? Just look at little kids. They can be happy with the simplest things that don't cost anything. But as soon as we grow up we have bills to pay, gotta buy whatever in the latest fashion. And unfortunately i don't think we'll ever have enough. Were just gonna keep buying things forever,

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  19. Wealth to me is all the money one has accumulated and all the things like houses and properties and cars. We definitely see too much excess of wealth and money, there are obvious people who have money and other middle class or lower class people who don't have as much wealth. Which begs the question of whether someones financial status is a reflection of how successful they are? Success may not only be measured by wealth and money but things like family and friends. Everyone will always want wealth and money but things like my friends and family and happiness are part of being can't be given to me with wealth or money. I feel like we are always wanting more. For example we always have to have the newest ipods and tv's and games as soon as they are outdated, our society is all about what is the latest and greatest. I feel like being content and fulfilled is definitely a good trait in someone. When someone realizes enough is enough that is when they are content and fulfilled.

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  20. Material wealth? Money’s funny in a rich man’s world. You see the rich always paying with big bills for something not even half as much, and then you see them tell the cashier to just keep the change. I feel like they don’t know the meaning of the excitement of the middle and/or the lower class when someone finally saves up enough money to buy something special. The feeling of reaching you goal and earning what you bought through long hours, sweat and tears feels good. The lower class, can barely afford what they need, how can they save up enough to even consider getting something they want. Wealth depends on how you look at it. Most of the time when you think of wealth you think of having tons of money, no financial struggles, no worries on what your cable or electric bill is going to be at the end of the month. The other kind of wealth is the wealth of happiness and a healthy loving life. That in itself is a strong wealth. Things you might not be able to solve with money you can overcome if you have that kind of wealth in your life. I would say our world is growing excess. Technology is rapidly growing and everyone has to have the new and cool thing. If not, then you are out of the loop. Everyone wants to have more and more stuff, and to show off the stuff you have, and then get more. It’s almost becoming a requirement, which is kind of depressing. To a certain eye yes, your financial status is a reflection of how successful you are. This should not be the case at all. What if the person who has the intelligence to create a cure for cancer is among the poorest of the poor, can’t afford to go to school, and is working 5 jobs for their family just so they have a place to eat and sleep each night? Why should how rich you are determine how successful you can or cannot be? We humans, as part of our nature, have the incurable disease of wanting. Wanting the best, wanting the trendiest clothes, wanting to live a full and adventurous life, wanting to be at the top, wanting a nice house, cars, accessories, wanting time to freeze… the list is endless! We want too much. Being content with the necessities and happiness is all the wanting you should do. Stop wanting what you can’t have and start enjoying the things you do have.

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  21. I see wealth and money as a tool for measuring for people to assume how successful someone may be. Being wealthy means more than just being large in terms of money and fortune, but also based on quantity and quality of luxuries. These being things like the car you drive, the house you live in, or the price of the television set that is in said house. However, like Garrett said, wealth isn't just confined to those kind of objects, but also how happy someone is with their lives even if they may have a job that is looked at as the bottom of the barrel. Sometimes we do see some excess in situations where people are being given more than what they need to use in life, but at the same time people with large amounts of wealth may use it to donate to those who are unfortunate to be able to have it, such as Oprah Winfrey giving away millions of dollars to those who are in a situation much worse than any of ours. Success to me is just being happy with what you do in life, even if that may mean working in the same job for the rest of your life (or up to retirement, at least.) To me, money doesn't matter when it comes to my needs, as during the Summer I save a good eighty percent of my paychecks for later on in the year(s) instead of blowing it off on something dumb like getting an iPad 2, or replacing my phone for a superior product, so in the end wealth and money have little impact on being successful for me. We tend to want more though, and sometimes more than what we actually may deserve. New technologies that become trending come out sometimes a little too frequently, and society seems to more often than not feel like they need it all, but I feel that it's redundant. Unfortunately when it comes to enough, it seems to either not exist to some, or it's a personal idea when enough will be enough. For me it will be when I am at a point in life where I am okay with any possible changes, and am capable with putting off any luxuries that may come out (such as a new generation of an mp3 player, or upgrading my PC.) But in the end, it's all about perception.

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  22. When someone says oh that person is extremely wealthy, the first thing I think is damn they're lucky: nice cars, a big house, and designer clothes. They have it good. I have no clue what their occupation is or where they came from, and I have already imagined what luxury car they drive. I believe we judge way too much without knowing the complete story. For example, a girl at school who wears designer clothes may have the stigma "rich girl" attached to her when she actually could have gotten them at Plato's Closet.
    Some people say money does not matter to them but in reality money does put food on the table and a roof over their heads. We need to find the balance between want and need. Rachel W said " I have witnessed people that are making barely enough money to survive that are living perfectly fulfilling lives." I agree; I have seen it too! What she said reminded me of a show I watched when I was a little kid, Veggie Tales. In one episode, Madame Blueberry was very upset because she had no family so she wanted more stuff to fill that hole. On her way home from Stuff Mart she sees a very poor family celebrating their daughter's birthday. Instead of the girl being unhappy that her family can only afford one slice of pie, she is happy and thankful. She sings a song and says "A thankful heart is a happy heart" and offers her piece of pie to Madam Blueberry. At the end of the show Madam Blueberry realizes it's not the stuff that makes her happy but instead it's being close with friends and family she loves. Some people think to be happy they have to have money so they will do anything to get to the top including hurt people they love. But, in the end they would have been happier with the people they love. Wealth and success, to me, then are to love and be happy with my family and friends- and, for my family and friends to love me and to be happy with me.

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  23. What are your perceptions of material wealth/money? What is "wealth"? Wealth to me is a measuring tool for success. Everyone is fighting to be at the top. Wealth can be measured in an individual's things such as their house, car, T.V., phone, etc... People are always judging subconsioucsly on what people wear or what their house looks like or how much money they have but people should be judged on who they are not what they have. From my point of view, a financial status does not define how succesful you are as a person but defines how succesful you are with your work or whatever it is one does for a job. Success in personality and wealth are two completely different topics in my mind. Personality is measured the same no matter how much wealth one may have. Success in my eyes has always been doing what I love and getting what I want most in this world, which is a great family. I would rather have the greatest family in the world and be the poorest, than have all the wealth in the world and a the worst family. Success has always and will always be family in my life. It is human nature to always want more and to have the newer and better version of everything. The man with bronze always wants silver and the man with silver always wants gold and the man with gold has nothing to do except find a newer and better source of wealth. Eventually, I think humans are going to comsume ourselves and be the ending reason to our extinction. As a human being I see us just sucking the earth dry of what it has to offer until there is nothing left and we die off. Going back to what good old J Bob said about how wealth can mask a mans true personality, I strongly aggree with this statement. I agree with this because it is the reason why people are the way they are. For me enough is enough when a truly good person is transformed into something he is not. I think it is enough already, I feel like deep down inside, everyone is good but everyone is masked by our human nature to beat out one another for the higher spot on the totem pole no matter what we have to do to eachother.

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  24. My perception of material wealth is that wealth doesn't always mean being successful. There are plenty of people who are wealthy that are no where close to "successful". I wouldn't say that we see much excess right now because with the recession of our economy what once was used for excess is used on the necessities. I feel that success is tough to define, it is different for everyone. Success to one can be total failure to another so I think that each person has to define success on their own terms. Does your financial wealth reflect your success? This is a tough question because again, it is all relative. You can be living paycheck to paycheck and having the life you envisioned or you could be a billionaire and still not call yourself successful so no I don't think it is a reflection. And it's kind of the American standard to always want more. It never seems to end with want. Should we be content with what we have? Yes! But will we? That's the bothersome question is because we know the answer and its not one we're proud of. Enough should be enough but I fear it never will be, as long as the AD is around. The dream is what defines our desire for more, bigger, better things. And it is a firm belief of my that the AD will never die so "enough" will be the end.

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  25. The perceptions I have on material wealth/money is that those people may be able to not worry about spending money but when money gets in the way you don’t necessarily see everything with a beautiful view. You miss out on nature and family. Also when that wealth is given to you, you lose the need to depend on yourself. Wealth can be a lot of things wealthy never said it had anything to do with money you could be wealthy with knowledge; I could be a wealthy person because of my character. Success to me is about how happy you are with everything around you, your successful when you don’t want more, when you’re totally content with how your life is. Yes, we always want more and it’s not going to stop, if people stopped wanting and were content with what they have there would be no such thing as shopping or even shops. People always want too much because none of it is really necessary. Being content or fulfilled is enough, to me, if I’m content then what is there to be sad or mad about? When enough is enough? Hmmmm..... I would have to say when people take their noses out of the air and realize that America isn’t a paradise anymore and start looking at reality.

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  26. I see wealth and money as a bad thing and a good thing. If you are wealthy and you are responsible, it can be a good thing, but if you aren't responsible it can be hurtful to you and people all around you. I Don't think we see an excess in wealth today because we only see the really wealthy people who can handle their money well. I don't think that your financial status reflects how successful you are because I think that how you have lived your life and the things you have done reflect truly shows how successful you are. I think that everybody always wants more but it is a good thing because it gives you something to drive towards, and nobody would ever get anywhere without having anything to drive towards.

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  27. Money means everything in our society today. All day you are bombarded with the signs of people's wealth or the lack there of. Commercials show new expensive cars and iphones, you see huge houses as you drive down streets, and you are constantly hearing about who got what in divorces. But you also see the poor homeless guy in the median with a little card board sign asking for any small amount that you can give him. You look at that and think "I don't want to ever end up like that without anything."

    Sure other things make people happy, but in the end without money, there is no way you would be able to enjoy them. You can't raise a family to love and bring you joy if you have no money to feed, clothe, and house them. You can't serve others to make you happy if you can't even take care of yourself. The bottom line is that we need money and money in some way leads to happiness.

    I agree with Rachel's comment that money doesn't measure success but happiness does in some ways. I think that happiness for sure measures success. Success is seen different in everyone's eyes. If you want to be a CEO of a major company, but you only end up owning your own small business, that may be seen as being unsuccessfull, because its not your dream. But someone else's idea of being successfull might be owning thier own business and making thier employees and customers happy. They would then be successfull. I think if you are happy, no matter what circumstance you are in, you have successfully lived your life up to that point.

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  28. We have to rely on money for almost everything. Education, Transportation, Food and Nutrition, Housing, Accommodations, Entertainment, etc. Without money we could go nowhere, in life(no education, food, etc) and in physical presence.
    Wealth is how rich you are. However, in what way that presents it's self varies. For some, it is money, plain and simple. For others, it shows it's self in other ways; in friends, in love, in happiness, in experiences. I myself feel as though I am wealthy in my families love and influence.
    I don't think that a financial status is a reflection of how successful a person is. What did they want to achieve? Did it have anything to do with earning millions of dollars? What if it was just to support their family? Does a financial status show that? What your looking at is a number; what should be looked at is the person that created that number.
    We do want, there is always something to want; new technology, cars, gadgets, love, peace, a change of president, another change in president, and on and on and on. We will probably never stop wanting. Without want, their wont be that drive to keep us going. Want for education. Want for freedom. If we don't want then we won't work hard. ( ex: Want for a car - work two jobs, save your money, gain experience, and then buy want you want)
    Their is always the excessive amount of want; When your want turns into an addictive spending spree. Usually people don't even know they are in it until they hit rock bottom. So when the card goes a SWIPE and the cashier gives you that 'Please don't yell at me, this isn't my fault' look, it's just after the words DECLINED come out that you realize, 'hmm, maybe I shouldn't have.'

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  29. People in the United States are always wanting more. Especially when it comes down to money. People want to have as much as possible. We are never happy with what we have, and I think that society has influenced that. Some people, I agree, that are not all about wanting the best thing and being "rich". They are content with what they have. I will admit that I am a person that will sometimes want more than I have, but then again I am content with what I have. My material belongings are very important to me, but when it comes down to it, emotions such as love are more important to me. Family is the single most important thing to me. You cannot buy your family and I think that, that is what truly matters.

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