Wealth vs. Poverty:
Redefining the North American Perception of Happiness
Many people believe that money is the key to happiness. I believe that in certain situations it can be the opposite; that happiness can be found without wealth. In fact, it can be found in some of the poorest areas around the world.
"9. Smiles from the DRC." MAG: Save Lives Builds Futures. N.p., 2 Oct. 2014. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
The Democratic Republic of Congo: ranked the #1 most impoverished country with the lowest income rate in the world. Yet the simple privilege of being in a photo is more than enough to immediately light up each and every one of these children’s faces with smiles rarely seen as bright in North America. With torn clothes, shaved heads, and dirty bodies, these children have no problem with their confidence and take this photo as an opportunity to be noticed. This is shown by them piling on top of each other so that they may have the spotlight. These children know they do not have bright futures that include a reasonable education, a solid career, or the ability to have a general sense of freedom. What lies ahead for them is the possibility of becoming a child soldier, a prostitute, or sold into the sex-trade. Each child has an everyday struggle of trying to make it to the next, because of the constant war and fear around them. In the D.R.C. there are no cellphones, no advanced universities, no sixteen-year-olds with their own cars, and no compelling desire to have the newest trend. In this impoverished country there is just simply living, and making the most of what they have. This is a far cry from North America where people have a tendency to complain about small things that do not matter in the long run. We take good days and find the negatives in them, while they take days we cannot even fathom and find something to be thankful for. This is why I believe that we are the impoverished ones, not them.
(watch from 12:55)
These men own a website titled “the minimalists” where they have started a small revolution of minimalism. They describe minimalism as a lifestyle that helps people question which things add value to their lives. Doing this, one can see the important elements in life: health, relationships, passion, growth, and contribution. Ryan and Joshua initialize this by asking,“ how might your life be better if you owned fewer material possessions?” They do this for the purpose that people live their life to the best of their abilities in a selfless way, which there is no denying makes a person genuinely happy. Ryan and Josh wish that everyone would live a minimalist’s lifestyle, because it changed their lives. On their website they describe that, “unfortunately, we’ve been steeped in a culture so heavily mediated that we’ve started believing the lies. The cars, the houses, the stuff—living the so-called Dream will make us happy. But of course this is not true.” "The Minimalists." The Minimalists. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2015. <http://www.theminimalists.com/>
"New Society." Radical Art Initiative. N.p., 10 June 2014. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
Although the above quote may seem contrasting, with certain definitions it can perfectly describe North America’s current status. WEALTH:Obsolete, happiness. Perhaps you do not feel like your family is very well-off and fortunate. In contrast, facts show that we make the top 10% of the world’s wealthiest society, but definitely not the type of wealth that fits this definition. The street artist who created this simply stated things as they are: a country completely obsessed with money. POVERTY:the state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount. I believe this definition suites us more. A country absolutely deprived of joy. So would you describe our country as being wealthy, or a country that is poor in the sense that they have no concept of ‘having enough’. What this artist was trying to convey was that if we stripped the people of our country of their belongings, jobs, technological addictions, and left everyone with the people they had around them and the natural earth we’ve been given, there we would find an honest happiness. Without money, we’d all be rich.
To conclude, happiness may not be the absence of money. Being a millionaire may not cause depression. But, if you were to strip a person of their greed, selfishness, and materialistic pride (all rooted from money), you would find someone who has a heart of gold: a person who does not base their life on their next pay-check or to get the newest desired possession. This is why happiness can be found without wealth, and that money is not the key to happiness. I hope this has given you some sort of new perspective, and that you keep in mind that happiness is in fact the greatest wealth that one can have.
why did you choose this topic? does it reflect the way you actually feel about modern culture?
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