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December 21, 2008
Can You Buy Happiness?
Richard Epstein of the University of Chicago discusses how money can buy happiness and also how money can cost you happiness. His bottom line is that only you can decide what you value but that it is the wise person who knows or at least has thought about (often with the help of others) the trade offs. He also makes an astute observation which I like very much: The people consumed by envy are a small misanthropic set of the general population. What he fails to emphasize sufficiently is that it is those people who are often bellowing the loudest, trying to influence others to employ theft (government) to bring things into the "proper" balance. To the detriment of all concerned. It never works. Because there is always some one smarter, prettier, taller, more charming, more accomplished, more talented, etc. etc. etc. And there is nothing you can do about it even if you make every one's material condition identical. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon on 12.21.08 at 07:27 AM
Comments
I read a lot of Vonnegut. That was not one of them. M. Simon · December 21, 2008 10:08 AM I take it back. I must have read it because it was included in a Vonnegut book I read. I don't remember it though. M. Simon · December 21, 2008 10:14 AM "What he fails to emphasize sufficiently is that it is those people who are often bellowing the loudest, trying to influence others to employ theft (government) to bring things into the "proper" balance" These are usually the same people who believe in the botox-injected, siliconed-enhanced TV/Movie people who are junked up on steroidal youth juice. And they think the illusion is real life when they look at air-brushed and photo-shopped pictures on the cover of the Rolling Stone. If you believe in illusions most likely your life is illusionary...hence the acceptance of Al Gore's Global Warming oops sorry reality bites...it's now called Climate Change where the illusioned believe they can control the weather. syn · December 21, 2008 02:15 PM Post a comment
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So I am guessing you haven't read "Harrison Bergeron" by Vonnegut. Well, nothing to be ashamed of, if you don't read Vonnegut in hish school then you probably never read him at all.