Let me answer this question from two perspectives – the perspectives of the ‘actual me’ and the ‘ideal me.’ The ‘actual me’ is quite afraid of a severe economic downturn. I have no idea how likely one is, but I am going to be looking for a full-time professorship in the next two years, and I really, really want there to be a job for me.
But it’s not very interesting what the ‘actual me’ believes. The ‘ideal me’ calls for a very different emotion than fear. This is because there is a fact, breathtakingly both in its simplicity and irrefutability, which we all learned in second grade: material possessions do not increase happiness. Of course, this excludes instances of extreme poverty. Someone lacking food, shelter, and basic health care is likely to be miserable, after all - especially if he or she is looking after children.
But beyond extreme poverty, which is not a serious possibility for us Americans, it is undeniably true that money and possessions have little to do with happiness. If anything, happiness decreases as access to luxuries increases. I was reminded of this while reading the Ancient Greek philosopher, Epicurus, this weekend. One of his most interesting insights is that desires for possessions are inevitably mistaken attempts to fulfill basic psychological needs. For example, we might buy a particular car because we imagine the cluster of people that want to take a ride with us. An Epicurean analysis might be that we are not purchasing the car, but friendship. This is important because we can get friendship in many different ways – most of them free.
It is silly to believe that our generation is somehow “happier” than our parents’ or grandparents’generations. It is just that we have more stuff. This has been true even in my own life. Only two years ago, limited money forced me to ride a bike and take the bus all around town, and my travel budget was about $20 a month. Then when I got more money, I bought a car. I do not plan on going back to bike riding – that was hard work – but I can honestly say that on the whole, I have not been any more or less happy in the last two years. I can remember feeling quite satisfied with my life during my bike riding days – in fact, about as happy as I am now. The difference – a whole lotta money!
