SirArthur

Turns out those late days happiness is more and more confused and melted within consumerism. People is lured to believe happiness can be achieved by buying and owning loads of useless stuff. Is the weakness of exhibition, a weakness publicity exploits over and over again.
Unfortunately, this sort of instant of happiness vanishes as fast as it comes. It's nothing but a plastic wrapped instant happiness with a short effect. The scam where it lies is however easy to understand:

'A' produces "stockpile f BS 2000", hires a couple of publicity agencies in order to leave to you the message the reason why you're unhappy is because you've not "stockpile of BS 2000", in the next day however those same agencies are paid to make you believe you're unhappy because you have "stockpile of BS 2000" while the true happiness lies on "stockpile of BS 3000" which has just reached the stores. Lately they will come with BS 4000, 5000, 6000... in a vicious cycle where the most important is that you never achieve true happiness (Otherwise you wouldn't buy the next version of BS they want to sell you).

Happiness, the real and durable one, is however extremely cheap, if not free, and easy to achieve. It comes out of the most simple things on life, children, family, nature. All happiness is around us, freely to be explored and felt, we are just by many times lured to not see it by those whom see happiness where it can't be found; money; turns out also nobody can be happy at other's misery expenses, so the whole consumerism system seams to have lots of flaws on both sides.

kjk437

I think this point is valid, but some do find genuine happiness in material hobbies. I very much achieve happiness with electronics. I do. This isn't shallow. I volunteer my time, I give what I can, I love my wife, and I love a day on the bank of a lake casting a fishing pole, but there is a part of my life that genuinely finds happiness with innovation in technology. My purchasing a new computer isn't necessarily because I need my machine to word process 5 seconds faster, it's because I admire the advancement of said technology. I was happy to purchase a HDTV, not because I needed to keep up with the Jones', but because I really love electronics.

Vinterland

I agree with you post, and it's always good to have a reminder, especially as a kid. Situations in less fortunate countries are constant reminders that our happiness is always found in being together with family and nature.

__________________
And on we walked. Suddenly we heard a voice crying, "This is the sea. This is the deep sea. This is the vast and mighty sea." And when we reached the voice it was a man whose back was turned to the sea, and at his ear he held a shell, listening to its murmur.
And my soul said, "Let us pass on. He is the realist, who turns his back on the whole he cannot grasp, and busies himself with a fragment."
—Gibran Khalil Gibran, “The Greater Sea.”

Astreja

For me, "true happiness" is doing things.

I occasionally need materials in order to do those things. It's difficult to play a guitar that you don't have, paint a wall with paint that you haven't bought yet, or bake brownies for your family if you have no cocoa in the pantry.

Consumerism can be extremely manipulative and nasty at times, but there are many positive things to be found in the material world. That is, after all, where I keep all my stuff.

The An-Jel

I find thinking and writing give me the most happiness. Capitalism has produced some amazing and useful stuff but a lot of it seems more frivilous than useful.

__________________
"And let there be Light!" said the Blind man.

Life is simple, people make it complicated - Basilisk

Nulli Expugnabilis Hosti - Royal Gibraltar Regiment

SirArthur

Hum... the question is, rich countries are NOT happy. People's greed is endless. I don't say one without food must consider himself on anyway happy, but on rich countries people is going towards really dark roads totally distracted from consequences of such. Within a couple of decades, happiness may be vanished from Europe for good as people is not even longer think on family but self-centering, will not take long for many to realize how alone they ended up. And with such comes desperation, the eternal unhappiness.

Do not try to pin over, "hey, poor dudes says that just for relief".

Kham

How does one distinguish between happiness and real happiness?

Are you saying that it is impossible for one to not like their family or the outdoors?

SirArthur

Turns out difficult to establish clearly what is happiness, since it's a relative and subjective concept. What may make me happy may be just a boring stuff to you or someone else. Also is not untrue to say that some marketing can make people believe something is meant to make them happy and by suggestion power people feel joy with something they under normal circumstances would find it nothing but annoying.

But what makes me say that we're getting filled with fake happiness then?

When on one society psychiatric problems, specially the most childish one on grown ups that is depression due to (incapacity of) material acquisitions (quite normal if you don't buy a candy to your kid on the supermarket, but hey! Normal in a kid, on an adult it describes either: excessive greed/desire, overspending and ultimately irresponsibility.), as that society gets more and more depressed, filling with loans, bad credit and alike, then there's no doubt we're going through the wrong road of happiness.

OTH, to have money uses also to bring a lot of bad (interested) friends and sometimes makes it harder then to distinguish or even know what friends (real) you really have (if any).

Turns out a too complicated system to achieve any durable and solid happiness, wild consumerism.

AbridgingInfinity

Sir Arthur, You should look into Buddhism (as a philosophy) a bit if you haven't already; it has some main elements you seem to agree with. First, that desire is suffering; wanting that new ipod just makes you suffer, and there is no real joy when you buy it (but there is more suffering when the new ipod comes out.) And thus, many of the Buddhists have nothing, want nothing, and seem to be happy. I strongly respect this part of Buddhism

However, I don't agree with a lot of what was said. I doubt rich people are sadder if even equal to anyone else on average, and if you think so, I'd recommend donating everything you don't NEED to charity. Believe it or not, but material items (which money can buy) can bring plenty of happiness. For example, I am listening to great music every minute, and loving it. Argue that everything I have is fake; that's OK. But what is real? Friends? Family? Our technology helps with both. Thousands of years ago you could only know the people directly around you with no other communication.

And when you said that in the future we will be less happy, well, I'm sorry but I just found that comical. Because I can't prove anything in the future because I don't know the future, I think it would be easy to argue this in terms of the past. And, now that I think about it, go back say, 500 years. Can you really argue that times were better than? Disease everywhere, short lifespans, and many, many people liked to kill each other. I don't feel like wasting much time with that.

Sorry if I come off hard or anything. But I plan to major in engineering and have a really tough time believing that engineering has hurt our planet (which has more or less made it into what you complain about). Engineering gives us choices. You can buy the Ipod, or you can not buy the IPOD. But it isn't Apple's fault for making you suffer because you happened to have seen an add for it, and are now miserable without it.

SirArthur

AbridgingInfinity,

I think you got me wrong if you think I'm against engineering, science or development for any matters. I'm from sciences myself and actually an engineer and I do not complaint about it, thus I feel some parts of science are corrupted under capitalism, such as the only seek for profit and the capitalist quote of "money is the fuel of invention". The proof it ain't so is that during cold war communist Russians develop and invent almost as much as Americans. But that is for another discussion.

I do not say people in the future up to 500 years, but to when the current generation gets old since ALL mistakes you commit now will reflect on the future and a society of individualist compulsive consumerists commits far too many mistakes; the next ones I'm pretty unaware of what they'll do or do not.