Striving for materialism in life.

[TheVoiceofReason]

How do you all view this?

I was thinking the other day, what's the sense in striving for any sort of status for money and power? What's the use of placing unnecessary stress upon yourself in the hope of attaining a high salary and a huge mansion? Is this really an appropriate type of motivation? Have we become so clouded as a society that we find ourselves desiring more money over optimal health and happiness?

Often my head spins thinking about how people perceive the ultimate goals of life being the acquisition of money and power. What's the significance here? If your ultimate life goal is to form a family, perhaps this would be appropriate, but even then it is not completely necessary.

Then again, should we be satisfied, or is satisfaction, in a sense, the ultimate killer of desire? Perhaps wanting money and power, or more of it, is, in a way, a means to strive for satisfaction, just how someone wanting to exercise is not satisfied with their appearance so they do what they can to change it. Is that an accurate comparison? What truly defines happiness, anyway? It seems to be ambiguous. Some say that happiness is defined by having love and support, while others may say happiness is defined by your possessions and the amount of money you have. How do you define happiness?

[willywonka666]

It's taken me most of my life to find happiness and it was several realizations that brought this on. Would I like to have a ton of money? Sure, but right now it's not happening. Do I make a lot at my job? No. I could quit tomorrow and go to a factory and make a lot more, but then as you said, what am I striving for?

I've had jobs that paid VERY well that I hated, and I wouldn't trade radio for anything unless i was extremely desperate to survive. f*** it, this is what life's about.

What really summed it up for me, and it hit me like lightning was a "brain dropping" from George Carlin, and I'm paraphrasing here "Why would you work most of your life at a job you can't wait to get away from?"

[Ghostorm]

Materialism is the biggest disease to plague mankind in the last half century. "Dont love me for the person i am, love me for my new 5g Droid Iphone hybrid, 2012 Camaro, and breast implants".... i learned a long time ago that possessions dont make you who you are... or even make you truly happy. If thats your frame of mind then you will be spending the rest of your life trying to find happiness and more importantly love for yourself!

Dont get me wrong i do have alot of nice things... but if you like me for my toys and not for who i am as a human being then you can piss off! ;D

[Deleted]

I have found a nice pseudo Zen balance in that like anyone else I buy things, but I don't put a focus on material objects as things that I have to have, or even really buy that many non essentials. It's quite liberating. It helps the bank account out as well.

[Deleted]

I appreciate having a roof over my head and food to eat.

My home is decorated decent, and I buy thangs that I absolutely want that I will enjoy.

But at the end of the day, aside from being a means to provide your most basic necessities, money doesn't matter. I would take my family and happiness over material possssions any day.

[Libertine]

See, I want a lot of money. As much as possible. Yet I'm not concerned about buying the latest clothes/gadgets/cars etc. I just want enough money to a) allow financial worry to disappear and b) travel as much as possible.

I wouldn't even buy a big house if I was rich, or waste money in bars that charge £5 for a glass of Coke.

[Bone Daddy]

I think anyone who isn't thankful for the nice things they have is an idiot. There are kids around the world who have literally nothing, not even a roof over their heads. Be thankful for the luxuries in your life, don't act like people who want to have nice things are idiots. I'm sick of people who reject materialism and tweet about it from their iphones. It's one of my main issues with the occupy movement, but that's another issues (and one I don't think we can talk about on here)

[angryfan]

I'd love to be able to have enough to retire and just find a job to have fun with, but I've never been an overly materialistic guy. My standing statement around my birthday and holidays is this, "I want and need nothing, but whatever gift I am given will mean something becaue of who gave it to me". I don't attach importance to objects because of waht they are, I attach the meaning to the "who" and "why" behind it. My most prized possession is a dog tag that I only take off when I sleep or shower, that was given to me about two months ago. It's not worth a mint or anythign, it's simple, but it is the one thing that I have that you would have to kill me to take it from me.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Depends on what you mean by materialism.

I strive for money because a lot of the stuff I own makes me really happy. I like watching DVDs, using my PC, playing X-Box, making music on my guitars, etc.

I also like putting a roof over my wife's head and not having to worry about paying bills.

Money is a necessity, and it can lead to some good stuff. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

[Ducky Momo]

We live in a country where you and your family can't really get by decently unless you make a bit money. But am i materialist? I don't think so, I rarely buy anything unless it's really cheap from what's it's normally priced, and even then stuff I really want I don''t buy even if it's cheap. Because frankly I don't need it. I have plenty of nice stuff, but I realize it's just stuff. I have so many friends who make way more money than me yet are constantly in financial straights because they go out and buy every new game for 60 bucks and a bunch of other wasteful things. Do I like money sure, do I think it's everything? No. Fact is I'm very happy living humbly and most of all the money I make is sitting in my bank account. But it's very nice knowing it's there, know I could get by for a long while if I ever lost my job or needed to have emergency funds. My friends call me cheap as it's out of greed, I feel differently.

[twiggy101]

I'm fairly happy where I am right now but I have certain goals like buying a condo and travelling. I just have to work my ass off for that. Other then that, I don't need a whole lot.

[Alex Shelley]

I just want a lot of money so that I can have a bank account with a shitload of money it in, and I can take the yearly interest and donate it to charity. That, and so I can start my own cat rescue group/animal shelter. And so I can start the women's wrestling promotion I want to start.

I don't need a lot of money to live comfortably. I'd like to make more money than I do now so that I can buy more music and wrestling stuff, and maybe eat a little better, but otherwise I already live a good life and wouldn't change my lifestyle at all if I were to suddenly become rich. I'd still want to be a scientist and I wouldn't want to live in a giant house or buy fancy things all the time. Maybe I'd move into a two-bedroom place so that I could have a room just for foster cats.

So yeah... I do want to be filthy stinkin' rich, but I want to be filthy stinkin' rich so that I can give my money away to people and animals in need. Cause that's really the thing I care about most in life. Isn't that sickeningly sweet?

[spec]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo-wkv8gW6k

(language)

[The Line]

I can say I am the least materialistic f*** around, but I know that's so false, because I'm always trying to have the best home cinema I can, and always will. Once I pass the bar(2016 can't come soon enough!) and start making some money, I'm going to have an actual dedicated home theater room with a digital projector and a big screen(and if I'm rich enough, the potential to do actual film screenings). Materialistic? Yes. Shallow? You betcha. But films are my life!

[Piccolo]

I want to be secure, and I want to be happy. Money buys security, and relationships and experiences bring happiness. Therefore, I went to school, chose a major that was both interesting and marketable, went on to grad school to get my terminal degree, and now work at a job that's fairly stimulating, safe, has regular hours, and keeps a roof over my head, food on my table, clothes on my back, and a nice little fund going for an eventual house.

And that's all the material wealth I need. According to the world rich list site, though, I'm in the 1% of all people in the world as far as wealth based on my annual salary. Is it possible to say I'm not materialistic when I'm blessed with material wealth? When I live in a country where it's possible for people to take two months to camp out in the street and not have to worry about starving during that time? When I have new clothes when I want them and more than ten pairs of shoes?

It's easy to say I'm not materialistic when I have all the comforts materialism can buy. Very easy to focus on the things that really matter when I'm in no danger of not having enough money to eat tomorrow, you know? I'm just really grateful for the accident of birth that landed me here, in a place where I have a comfortable enough life to feel safe eschewing materialism.

[Rolent Tex]

I'm a materialistic jerk, but I'm also happy with what I have. If it just came down to me, my wife and my son and this little place we call home, I'd be perfectly happy. I still want a big TV with the works to go with my video game systems and a nice car though. That's all going to come from hard work and I'm not one to brag about things I own. I leave that to my coworkers bless their little souls. You don't even know...

[Deleted]

Money is everything.

You can't be happy without it so it makes sense that people strive to have it in their lives. A lot of people go overboard with it, but money is the be all end all when it comes to motivation.

If you don't believe me, I'll pm you my address and you can send me all your disposable income as proof that I'm wrong.

[rapidfire187]

I strive for materialism b/c I'm lacking it. I can't help but feel like if I had money, my entire life would improve. I know with more money comes more problems, but it can't be as bad as just not having any at all.

[Munkie91087]

They say money can't buy happiness, but have you ever seen a person look sad on a jet-ski?

[Young Game]

I wouldn't mind having a few extra zeros on my account balance. I could move outta my crappy apartment, get a decent 3 bedroom house, build a recording studio on my property somewhere, get a whole mess of Wrestlemania front row seats for my nearest and dearest.

OH! I would also help out this really nice homeless couple I see all the time.