Well let me throw up another simple perspective which can actually be experienced. Go to a nice provincial area of Phils and find some nice families to visit. Watch how happy the people seem to be, especially the children even though they have almost nothing besides basic necessitates. I mean you really can meet a lot of people who seem genuinely happy in those places. Now if it gets to point where they can't eat, then things can change. But at that basic level of life with relative scarcity of modern conveniences and gadgets, people do seem pretty darn content in a lot of cases if not downright happy with life.Winston wrote:That's a good point Falcon. You see a bigger picture than Rock and Repatriate do with their narrow left brained mentality. That's remarkable considering that you are a lot younger than them.Falcon wrote: The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse
Gregg Easterbrook
Perhaps the big question here is:
Are people who are spoiled with more things happier than poor people who are not spoiled?
Example: Are spoiled Americans who consume a lot, are snotty and uptight, easily annoyed and angry, and stressed out from work HAPPIER than poor Filipinos or Mexicans who don't have much but smile a lot for no reason, just for the heck of it?
It's hard to say. I'm not taking sides here, just saying that the issue is not that black and white as Rock and Repatriate make it out to be.
I'm not saying I prefer living in the 19th Century either. Just saying that it's not that black and white.
Now contrast to those caught up in the USA rat race. So many of the ones who are doing well in theory, making the big bucks, etc. seem pretty miserable or angry even though they may be very wealth or rich. Perhaps system in certain parts of Europe is better for mixing wealth and contentment but I still think there's a lot of lonely people there too.
However, the problem is, once you've gotten used to the bells and whistles of a typical developed world lifestyle, it's hard to adjust to living simply in the provinces of Phils I believe, at least for the likes of myself or Winston. Likewise, I believe it would be very hard to go back to the good-old days of 100 years ago and be content with that given what we are used to.