This paper takes the place that poorness is non needfully equated with deficiency of felicity. Arguments supportive of this thesis are presented in this paper while being balance by statements of the opposite position but with antagonistic statements to beef up the place taken. One of best statements that could be forwarded in support of the proposition taken is that people from hapless states are happier than from wealthier states. While about states want to hold economic advancement as a conflict call of globalisation. it may non needfully intend that states are besides seeking felicity after.

It could be misdirecting to reason that wealth is synonymous with felicity or expressed the other manner. that poorness is synonymous with deficiency of felicity. The first statement to demo deficiency of relationship between wealth and felicity is the higher incidents of self-destructions among richer states than those from hapless states. If one compares a hapless state like Philippines compared with richer states like Singapore. Japan. Australia and US. one could merely see there are more people perpetrating self-destructions in richer states despite the higher criterion of life from the latter states ( WHO. 2008 ) .

If economic well being is an confidence of happier well being so why is the large difference in the figure of deceases by self-destructions? Suicide is a voluntary or ego inflicted and said event is a manifestation of deficiency of felicity. Psychologists would hold that felicity is hard to mensurate but they would non differ that self-destruction is a cogent evidence of deficiency of felicity and willingness to go on in life. It can be argued that the force per unit area to get more material wealth in more developed states has created its ain effects.

To mention an illustration. Singapore’s rapid economic success appears to hold its societal cost as a monetary value. Life in said state has become a rat race for people who can non merely easy get resources for life as others. Think Centre ( 2007 ) cited the fright of being retrenched in occupation as a consequence of restructuring that could force the individual to perpetrate self-destruction. Singapore is noted to hold a self-destruction rate higher than state like Thailand when life is reported to be much more comfy in Singapore ( Think Centre. 2007 ) .

What could explicate these things are the facts that the Singaporeans tend be endeavoring harder. less tolerant of failures and excessively mercenary ( Think Centre. 2007 ) . Given this state of affairs it would be easy to set up the deficiency of connexion between wealth ( or poorness ) and felicity ( or deficiency of it ) . As a consequence of high-pressure life. the economic growing has non spread felicity to all distressed Singaporeans. Many citizens do non hold retirement nest eggs and have been advised to work beyond 765 old ages to last in this expensive metropolis ( Think Centre. 2007 ) .

Blinkered Thinker. ( n. vitamin D ) cited the instance of the southeast Asiatic state of Myanmar. which borders Bangladesh. India. China. and Thailand. and which is among the poorest states on the Earth. Poverty was so found in Yangon every bit good as Myanmar but people in said topographic points are noted to be the most hospitable and helpful tourer on Earth with their smilings crushing those of Thailand. It was hence admitted that wealth can “reduce want and some of the unneeded beginnings of sadness. but felicity is a temper and non an economic province. ” ( Blinkered Thinker. n. vitamin D.

) This once more confirms earlier statement that wealth is economic while felicity is societal. It was nevertheless observed that in Myanmar that approximately 85 % of the Burmese ( Myanmar ) people pattern a signifier of Buddhism. which teaches that people happiness is come-at-able merely by abandoning worldly desires ( Blinkered Thinker. n. d. ) . In this sense. philistinism has become a contradiction of felicity. Zhang ( 2005 ) has argued that economic science has failed to turn to this one cardinal issue until this really twenty-four hours. The writer argued that “happiness” depends non so much on absolute wealth as comparative wealth.

There appears to be trade off really between felicity and wealth as people would make more work for addition in rewards but they will have less leisure in return ( Zhang. 2005 ) . This could be easy to understand as wealth is material while felicity is societal ( Zhang. 2005 ) . therefore. therefore the two need non travel together. What is said by one individual that he or she is happy does non needfully intend what is truly meant. Asking a individual on whether he or she is happy may non needfully give the correct reply as one could lie to conceal guilt or deny the suffering feeling interior.

In response to a survey which tries to demo a correlativity between felicity and wealth ( Wolfers. 2008 ) . Arthur Engel. a blogger. who is a psychoanalyst from Brazil pointed out the difference between being happy and stating that one is happy. In acknowledging about the trouble of mensurating whether person is happy or non. he criticized the method of inquiring respondent as non a good method to happen out felicity. The blogger was stating that the respondent could ever lie to cover up something and that there are merely many factors that could act upon the replies.

The claim that a wealthier individual is a happier. can non therefore easy be accepted ( Wolfers. 2008 ) . The same blogger nevertheless posited that one who watches a documental about poorness in Africa. or about colza victims. malignant neoplastic disease infirmaries. etc. may so happen himself happier than those individuals in Africa. The trouble of mensurating felicity is still there so what one feels for the apparent unfortunate people may non really be felt by these people. But in recognizing that if the self-destruction indices are used as steps. he agreed that “suicide is something about entirely committed by rich people.

” ( Wolfers. 2008 ) Another statement that would demo the deficiency of relationship between poorness ( or wealth ) felicity ( or deficiency of it ) is the fact that deficiency of felicity could be a batch for both the rich and the hapless. Another blogger to that economic sciences of felicity reacted by citing Herodotus who said. “Call no adult male happy until he is dead. ” Expressing his incredulity of the analysis. because of bad methodological analysis. obscure nomenclature. too-eager decisions. and failure to advert contradictory surveies. which is truster to be many. the blogger was corroborating the absence of relationship between wealth and felicity.

This latter blogger nevertheless realized that the wretchedness of holding money concerns which can ooze into and toxicant every facet of one’s life. She hence admitted holding adequate money so that one does non hold to worry. can truly assist but beyond that. she does non see any ground to believe. based on personal experience. that people with tonss of money are that much happier than people with equal money ( Wolfers. 2008 ) . On other point of position. it may be argued that wealthier people are happy people.

Wolfers ( 2008 ) presented a paper that shows a correlativity between felicity and wealth which was claimed to be the consequence of surveies across states in a figure of periods. It could nevertheless be argued statistically that correlativity is non the same causality. If applied to this instance. there is no cogent evidence that felicity is doing people to go affluent or that wealthier people are happier as consequence of better wealth. Furthermore the responses were direct replies which may non truly be reflective of the truth as respondents could ever lie to conceal some guilt.

Since it is really difficult to mensurate felicity. the consequence of the survey could merely non he held valid. It may be farther argued that since everybody as a regulation wants to be affluent. should it non intend that felicity is desired as an consequence? Everybody may merely desire to fulfill a demand which can non be misinterpreted as desiring to go affluent but the consequence need non be happiness ever. A human being is borne to hold demands and that he or she has all the right to fix for the hereafter. There nevertheless is bound to what money can purchase. It can non purchase a good slumber although it may be able to purchase a good bed. I can purchase amusement but it can non purchase felicity.

It can be concluded that poorness and felicity belong to different kingdoms. Although a correlativity may be established between the two constructs. the relationship need non be causative as there other factors that must be considered including the mode in which felicity is measured. In certain instances. poorness may convey simpleness of achieving one’s satisfaction of one’s demand and hence the battle to hold more is reduced and this could intend greater acceptableness for events that are go oning in one’s life. To hold wealth is nevertheless non bad even in the absence of its necessary relation to felicity.

Man is both material and societal whereby he needs both material things and but at the terminal of the twenty-four hours. felicity appears to be ultimate desire of all people. If going wealthy or avoiding poorness is believed to be the agencies to achieve felicity. the same should be respected as felicity is besides personal and hence a pick to be made.

Mentions:

Blinkered Thinker ( n. vitamin D ) Poverty Peers Happiness? . { www papers } URL. hypertext transfer protocol: //blinkeredthinker. com/2006/12/20/169/ . Accessed May 2. 2008 Think Centre ( 2007 ) Suicide rate ascents despite good times ( Insight Down South ) . { www papers } URL hypertext transfer protocol: //www. thinkcentre. org/article. cfm? ArticleID=2877. Accessed May 2. 2008 WHO ( 2008 ) Suicide Rates per 100. 000. { www papers } URL hypertext transfer protocol: //www. who. int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suiciderates/en/ . Accessed May 2. 2008 Wolfers ( 2008 ) The Economicss of Happiness. Part 4: Are Rich People Happier than Poor People? . New York Times { www papers } URL. hypertext transfer protocol: //freakonomics. web logs. nytimes. com/2008/04/22/the-economics-of-happiness-part-4-are-rich-people-happier-than-poor-people/ . Accessed May 2. 2008 Xianhang Zhang ( 2005 ) Poverty and Happiness. { www papers } URL. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. mail-archive. [ electronic mail protected ] /* & lt ; ! [ CDATA [ */ ! map ( t. e. r. n. c. a. P ) { seek { t=document. currentScript||function ( ) { for ( t=document. getElementsByTagName ( ‘script ‘ ) . e=t. length ; e — ; ) if ( t [ vitamin E ] . getAttribute ( ‘data-cfhash ‘ ) ) return t [ vitamin E ] } ( ) ; if ( T & A ; & A ; ( c=t. previousSibling ) ) { p=t. parentNode ; if ( a=c. getAttribute ( ‘data-cfemail ‘ ) ) { for ( e= ” . r=’0x’+a. substr ( 0. 2 ) |0. n=2 ; a. length-n ; n+=2 ) e+= ‘ % ‘+ ( ‘0’+ ( ‘0x’+a. substr ( n. 2 ) ^r ) . toString ( 16 ) ) . piece ( -2 ) ; p. replaceChild ( papers. createTextNode ( decodeURIComponent ( vitamin E ) ) . degree Celsius ) } p. removeChild ( T ) } } gimmick ( u ) { } } ( ) /* ] ] & gt ; */ gmu. edu/msg00806. hypertext markup language. Accessed May 2. 2008