| This question <2|13> overall <11|13> Hans: <11|15>. |
| Question 1: Can one say that happiness is the only true wealth? |
| [12] Hans: The “correct” answer to Question 1 Wealth is an input into the process of living, while happiness is an output from the process of living. Humans need to process nature with their labor in order to live and to live well. They can do this only in society. The natural and social resources available to them for this process are called “wealth.” Happiness, on the other hand, is a temporary emotional state of feeling in harmony with the universe or with one's fellow men and women, or with oneself. It may be an indication that one's living is good. |
| The sentence “happiness is the only true wealth” is therefore just as illogical as the sentence “health is the best kind of medicine” or “laughter is the best kind of joke.” It makes the elementary logical mistake (sometimes called “category error”) of confusing inputs and outputs, cause and effect, and of suggesting that the effects can be attained independently of their necessary conditions. |
| Although it does not take a genius to avoid such logical blunders, this particular mistake often remains undetected. Why? Because we live in a society where there is a taboo against seeing certain connections. Our society is a class society. Those who create all the material wealth receive only a small portion of what they produce. Wealth is distributed extremely unevenly. But there is a taboo against seeing this. We are swamped with propaganda showing how unhappy the rich are and how happy poor people can be, and that material wealth is morally suspect. This propaganda trivializes the inequity and unnecessary poverty stunting the lives of the majority of people in capitalist society. It pretends that people do not really need material things for living, and that the rampant exploitation in our society is therefore irrelevant. |
| The slogan “happiness is the only true wealth” is part of this propaganda. It is a very sophisticated kind of “brainwashing.” It does not feed us false facts but confuses us with logical inconsistencies, so that we are unable to see the structure of the society we live in. |
|
|
|||||