Can Money buy happiness?

Short answer: I don't really think so. I really only say this because happiness isn't exactly a physical thing that people can buy (if people could buy happiness in a box they almost certainly would, but I guess that's what life ruining drugs are for). The thing about buying happiness, though, is that people actually do think they can buy happiness (not just in the form of drugs). People think that buying a house, a car, a computer, a smartphone, etc. etc. etc. will bring them happiness.

I consider this only superficial happiness though, due to the fact that any of these things can be changed and exchanged or taken away relatively quickly. But this is all due to today's materialistic culture. Everyone always wants more, wants what's newest, what's most flashy - just so they can show off. Take the iPhone for example. It's basically a meme at this point how everyone always has to get the newest iPhone as soon as it comes out. I don't want to be too biased, but people spending between $700-$800 on a phone that is no longer the best option every year is pretty ridiculous. The two mile long wait lines to get the newest iPhone - I mean, is it even worth it?

I don't want to imply that I'm not a part of this absurd consumerist culture - my thoughts on android being the clearly superior phone option aside. I know that I find myself browsing tech articles fairly often on what's newest and coolest. Like other people, I want what's best, and I want it because I think it will make me happier - at the very least it  will make me feel as if I'm better than the person with last year's phone. But the question is: will it really make me happier? In the short term it might. Cause everyone loves getting new things. Take the excitement of getting a package in the mail from Amazon for example.

I have this theory (that may be supported by research I saw too long ago to remember) that money and/or property can only buy happiness up to a certain point. After that point your happiness either stays the same or starts to drop off. I feel like, once you get to a certain point of wealth, more wealth just doesn't mean anything. You can already buy pretty much everything so what's the point of getting more. I guess just to fill the greed that everyone in the capitalist world has. This is why we must change to a communist economy where no one has anything to themselves. If we can get rid of greed we can start concentrating more on the real problems. Let us go forth, Comrade.

Thoughts on lying

Lying is one of those things that we, as a society, have decided is immoral. Nobody likes being deceived or mislead, but it still happens all the time. Going to a party when you tell your parents you are just hanging out with a friend or two or telling them you don’t have homework when you have two tests and a paper due, but you just want to watch T.V. Highschoolers tend to lie when they want to get away from the rigors of school and home life. They just want to relax and have fun, but in a way that their parents would disapprove of - and so they lie. I personally don’t have a problem with this type of lying. But I do think that priorities need to be set by highschoolers to do their work before they go off and party - but that’s another story.

I like to think that I can lie when I need to. But the truth is, I don’t really have a need to lie. I don’t like going to parties and especially now, in my last semester of highschool, I don’t have work I need to get done before I can do whatever I want. Even if I did want to go to a party, though, I am lucky enough to have parents that are okay with that as long as I don’t do anything stupid.

There are other types of lying too. You lie when you want to spare someone’s feelings or maybe when you want to impress someone. These are the types of lies that I respect less, especially the latter kind. It is a personal belief of mine that you should be honest about yourself to other people. Even when the truth is hurtful to someone else, it’s probably best, in the end, to tell the truth. Now, if the topic never comes up around another person, then I would say it’s fine not to tell them. But that’s more for the benefit of the person with the hurtful truth. People generally don’t want to hurt another person’s feelings, and will want to put it off as much as possible, and I am certainly no exception to that. But there comes a time and a place in which the truth must come out, or else things can get uncomfortable for both parties involved.

Lying, in some ways, is really just acting. You want to make someone believe in something that isn’t true. But unlike acting, lying is the real world. You can hurt people with it or you can spare someone with it. Either way, it’s probably best to be good at it.