From the perspective of the ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ film’s protag Jamal (for anyone who’s seen the recent movie),
what do you philosophically think is much more important in life : love or money and please say why ?
I’m going to go with money, it makes the cultivation of love easier.
Love
Well, the question is really asking which one will make you happier. I say money. With money you can get everything but love, and if you meditated enough–which money can more than provide for in terms of time and love gurus–you can probably get love, too. With love, and without money (and there’s no way love will make your wallet fatter), you’ll promptly see that love is far from being sufficient for happiness.
To be honest neither. I have had both, BFD. Both are fleeting, coming and going at all hours.
I will stick with my 4 B’S, baseball, books, beer and buffalo wings. Voltaire thought was to tend
to one’s own garden. Love or money, both suck.
Kropotkin
I cannot choose. Money is essential for your well-being, however love is part of your life too and can, at times, keep you going.
I think It’s important to consider Maslows Hierarchy of needs when considering if Money will make you happy. Not saying that it should dissuade your opinion but it is important research to consider.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s … y_of_needs
Sorry about the wiki link, but it seems to have the facts straight on this account
Money.
Money buys health, lowered stress, freedom from the rat-race, ergo-time, personal trainers, dilletante education, entertainment, a nice wardrobe, confidence.
Once these things are aquired, they in turn ‘buy’ happiness, and love.
Unfortunately, the reverse is not true. You cannot buy a nice wardrobe with love. Not unless you do something really self-depreciatory in a back alley.
Money is a stand-in for achievement. It’s an easy metric - if you are really good at something, if you’ve achieved something in a field, you’ll get money. It’s not the be-all end-all, but it’s close.
Love is both the goal and the distraction of life. People work hard to gain access to the things they love, or to find ‘love.’ The interesting thing is that love is so powerful an emotion that it distracts one’s focus. Money facilitates love; love hampers the procurement of money. At least that’s how I experience it.
Whenever I feel that I am (shiver) ‘in love’ I have to consciously repress that shit to an unhealthy level, because I know that I’m going to drop every thing of note that I’m working on and just obsess about it.
Ask me about this five years ago and I would have said love. Now I say achievement, and the money it brings.
What is important to the individual, at any moment, depends on the context/Perspective of the moment; whether one feels ‘lonely’ or ‘hungry’…
(I know that this reply might not relate to the movie, but the technical problems with the movie prevented me from fully ‘enjoying’ it.)
Odd, though, that when we hear of or see an interview with some longest lived person du jour, they are, seeming invariably, of lesser economic strata.
Nah, the ‘subject’ of the stress is just different.
Nah, still a rat, just the ‘top’ rat in the race.
Not necessarily. Just differing priorities.
Only, perhaps, in financial matters. I see that the ‘materially’ wealthy still drive SUVs and Hummers. Still ‘compensating’ and ‘overcompensating’, which is what the uncharitable amassment of money, generally, is all about; "Don’t look at my little penis, look at this big SUV, bank acct., ruby ring, ludicrous home, etc…
You’ve got to be kidding! So untrue on both counts. You are obviously not wealthy nor have any intimates who are.
On the other hand, I guess that it depends on your definition of ‘happiness’ and ‘love’. I suggest that if you think that they can be ‘bought’, that you haven’t a clue as to what ‘happiness’ and ‘love’, is. I hear ‘speculation’, not experience…
Money is more important than Love and it always will-be.
I do not think this; I know this. Nothing is Sacred. It is okay to hit women too.
What about love of money? Ticks both boxes for me!
if money could buy love, money.
but it can’t, so love.
love of joy, sex (which money can buy, but at an inferior level of enjoyment), material pleasures.
even loving sudoku is worth more than all the money in the world, if you had to give love up that is.
(for some people, love means happiness. to me happiness is what makes love good)
You (think that you) ‘know’ this, as it is your reality.
And one certainly cannot ‘describe’ the, as yet unexperienced/unknown, ‘future’. There ain’t no valid claim in “and it always will be”.
Love does not pay the bills nameless; only money pays the bills.
Bums are a case-in-point of how & why money precedes love as a moral counterweight.
Nobody loves bums. They smell like shit.
No doubt, but is that some arbiter of ultimate value?
How’s about;
One pays the bills because one wishes to continue living.
Love makes life worth living.
Which illustrates a problem with the question. It is as if asking “What is more important; oranges or boom?”
Another problem with the question is it assumes continuity (there is none); the response depends at what moment in life one is asking.
And I repeat, you present your reality.
Not interested in your ‘love’ life.
Some people chose to be homeless; because it makes them happy. The other ones usually have mental illnesses and have fallen through the cracks.
Also, how would you explain the fact that the omish may be happy? or that the busiest time for heart attack emergency calls are during morning commute hours?
Money does not bring love or happiness. It is a necessary but not a sufficient condition. Love doesn’t pay the bills, that’s absolutely correct! One needs to secure his survival before he goes on any self-affirming or leisurely pursuits; such as love, philosophy, art… however; money does not bring these things.
I am reminded of an example in my childhood. It was popular in my highschool to play the guitar. I imagine at least 20 people bought guitars in the span of one year. Some were used and worth 300$ at the least, and some who were privileged, had guitars in the thousands! One of my friends, who was from a lower-middle class family worked his ass off and bought a 500$ guitar. After a year, of all those who bought guitars, only about half still remained somewhat entertained by it. Years later, my friend who had the 600$ guitar, is now doing a french folk-music tour of Europe with a well respected songwriter. He is one of the happiest people i know. Why doesen’t money bring happiness? Because money can buy a guitar, but it cannot give you the love of music. Money can buy you pleasures, but when the pleasure derived from material objects is gone, the void can only be filled by more objects.
Real happiness, comes from within, it is derived from practicing those things which make you happy. Not spending money! A love of money leads to heart attacks, and death bed regret. Money cannot be taken out of the equation though. Money is a means to practicing those things which make you happy. It is when money is considered as an end that i think you are in error.
Love does not pay the bills, because love is an end in itself. This is evident, because if love is not experienced for itself, if it is a means to something (like money, or sex), it is not really love (even though you may derive some pleasure from it). Bills, and money are means, not ends. You pay the bills for shelter, shelter is an end. You get money to buy food and clothing, because these are ends. Money is a means not an end. Happiness is only found in the deep pursuit of ends not the acquisition of means… in my opinion…
Nameless.
Owch.
Sorry, I should have said, money, coulped with… reasonable intelligence produces happiness.
Let’s face it, if you cannot manage to be reasonably happy with a couple of million stuffed in your back pocket for sweeties and cola, you’re a fool.
You are also making the error of dismissing the invisible evidence, particularly with health. I’m sure there are many poor, frugal eaters who have lived a gazillion years. But then there are probably many, many more who got ill at some point, and couldn’t afford the best care, or prophylatic care and so kicked the bucket early. C’mon.
Rich people live longer, better than poor people. Period. Unless of course, again they are stupid. Stupid people, rich or poor, die early. Unless they are lucky, but that’s another story.
The abstraction of importance is basically nonsense.
Neither human money nor human love, nor anything else human is of a universal importance.
Importance is one of the many nodes of self-deception which people use in the order of their own meager control of life.