FORUM
Does money buy happiness?
Nigel Alston
Motivational
Moments
"To make a man happy, fill
his hands with work, his heart
with affection, his mind with
purpose, his memory with use
ful knowledge, his future with
hope, and his yomach with
food."
o . ?Frederick E. Crane
He was happy, satisfied,
content with what he had. His
money was working for him
in a bank, earning interest. He
was married, with children and
living the life. He had it all.
Suddenly, however, what he
had was not enough.
He - Ali Hafed - is a fic
tional character in the classic
book "Acres of Diamonds,"
written by Russell Conwell.
After learning about the value
of diamonds and how much
more he could have with a
handful of the precious stones,
he went to bed dissatisfied
because he feared he was poor.
Does wealth produce hap
piness? For Ali Hafed, it did
n't. The answer to that ques
tion and a similar one - "Does
money buy happiness?" - pro
vides for some interesting
insights and conversation. The
link between wealth and hap
piness was the subject of an
article written by Wall Street
Journal reporter Jon E. Hilsen
rath.
You could argue that Ali
Hafed was happy one minute
and then dissatisfied the next
because he associated more
happiness with more money.
According to economists at the
American Economics Associa
tion's annual meeting and the
article written by Hilsenrath.
the answer isn't so simple.
Economists, according to
the story, are trying to deter
mine how financial assets - or
the lack thereof - translate into
real-world happiness. Many of
the economists, Hilsenrath
reports, "believe that money
does buy happiness but the
contentment fades as expecta
tions rise or as the gains of
others induce envy." It is all
right for people to get ahead.
. just not ahead of you.
He alsoWeports that people
are on a so-called satisfaction
treadmill.
He quotes Daniel Kahne
man, a Princeton University
professor, who said, "People
find that their demands from
life keep pace "with their
increases in income," In other
words, the more we get, the
more we want and when we
don't get what we want, we are
not happy campers.
Does money huy happi
ness? According to Hilsenrath,
the answer to the happiness
puzzle is complex and
ambiguous.
Most (72 percent) who
voted in The Wall Street Jour
nal online poll (not a scientific
one) agree that money makes
life easier, but only goes so
far.
About 11 percent believe
the best things in life are free.
That response didn't register
with a friend who listened
carefully as I read the multi
ple-choice response options
and laughed at the last two -
"works for me" and "only
when 1 have more of it than
my neighbors" - before agree
ing with the majority.
"Money does not buy hap
piness," she said. '.'It is a tern-*
porary fix. If you are not
happy internally, you can buy
all these external things and
they are going to momentarily
make you happy and then it
will be something else." There
is no joy on the happiness
treadmill.
"Well, it works for me," a
friend of hers said with atti
tude and laughing at the same
time. Fifteen percent of the
people who voted in the poll
agree with her. Her advice to
anyone who has a problem
with his or her money: "Tell
them to send it on over here
and watch me smile."
The remaining 2 percent
who voted - the envious group
- are happy with money only
when they have more of it than
their neighbors. That's a sad
state to be in, isn't it? How can
one be happy looking over his
or her shoulder, keeping up
with the Joneses and running
on a never-ending satisfaction
treadmill? There is always
someone with more.
If money were not an
object, what would you do?
Nigel Alston is a radio talk
show host, columnist and
motivational speaker. Visit his
Web site at www.motivational
moments.com.
Here we g again
Armstrong
Williams
Guest
Columnist
Here we go again. Rev.
Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al
Sharpton are once again hard
at work wagging their fingers.
This time their object of
scorn is Lawrence H. Sum
mers. Harvard University
president and former Treasury
secretary in the Clinton
administration.
Apparently, Summers had
the audacity - I mean, the
sheer nerve - to request that
Cornel West, Harvaatatrofes
sor and distinguish* black
American academic, focus on
his duties as an instructor, as
opposed to releasing music
CDs and leading a presidential
exploratory committee for
Sharpton.
In other words, Summers
requested that West make a
priority of his students.
Jackson and Sharpton took
immediate offense.
"Mr. Summers is infring
ing upon Mr. West's academic
freedom," Jackson snarled.
Jackson thinks this is a bad
thing. Apparently, he believes
that academics ought to be
beyond reproach and "free" to
pursue whatever suits their
fancy, regardless of how it
affects their ability to teach
their students.
Sharpton is singing a simi
lar tune. "I feel aggrieved,"
Sharpton squawked, "if 1 can't
have who I want to have work
for me."
Apparently, it doeiT not
matter to Sharpton that West
already has a full-time job as a
professor. Apparently, Sharp
ton fancies himself the center
of the universe and is there
fore understandably
"aggrieved" whenever some
one else takes a different view.
File Photo
The Rev. Al Sharpton doesn't always see eye to eye with the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
His response: sit hack and
snort racism.
Jackson and Sharpton have
gone on to criticize Summers
for not fully endorsing affir
mative action at Harvard Uni
versity. For obvious reasons,
neither Jackson nor Sharpton
mentioned that the Supreme
Court has cited Harvard's
admissions process as an ideal
model. Nor. for that matter,
did they acknowledge that
Harvard University has long
stressed racial diversity and is
widely acknowledged to have
the country's most prominent
African-American studies
department.
Instead, Jackson and
Sharpton did what they always
do: appeal to the lowest com
mon denominator.
The jig goes something
like this: Sharpton and Jack
son see some opening where
they can exploit our racial
sensitivity. Then they move
in. threatening to replicate
with mobs and bad press if
their demands aren't met
(often their demands include
no small amount of financial
gain for themselves). Bottom
line: They make their living as
racketeers, offering to inflame
or quell racial tensions at a
cost.
Not surprisingly, Jackson
threatened that "Mr. Summers
risks losing several key pro
fessors..." if their demands
aren't met.
Early on in the Civil
Rights Movement, this sort of
racial racketeering was the
only viable recourse black
leaders had for pressuring
companies into hiring more
blacks and pushing important
equality issues into the main
stream.
Forty years later, these tac
tics serve little more purpose
than to line the coffers of men
like Jackson and Sharpton,
while preventing the nation
from moving beyond those
initial first steps of the-Civil
Rights Movement.
Under the guise of civil
rights activists. Sharpton and
Jackson are pulling apart the
premier African-American
studies department in the
country.
Congratulations, gentle
men. Once again, you've left
your mark?
htlp://armslron>>williams.e
churchonline.com/
The Chronicle
The Choice for African-American News
617 N. Liberty Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
The Chronicle was established by Ernest Pitt
and
Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974. and is published
every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chroniele
Publishing Co.. Inc.
The Chroniclers a proud member of
National Newspapers Publishers Association ?
North Carolina Press Association ? North Car- *
olina Black Publishers Association ? Inland
Press Association
National Advertising Representative:
Amalgamated Publishers. Inc., 45 West 45th
Street. New York. NY 10036 212/869-5220
Contact Lis:
ptene njnoer. 336 / 722-8624
fax 336 / 723-9173'
Web site oMias:
www.netunlimited.net/~wschron
email octa news@wschronicle.com
Sports editor 723-8428
Copy Editor 723-8448
Circulation 722-8624
Solos Staff 722-8628
Nie Cbordinator 722-8628
Sam Davis
Pai l Collins
Vickie Warren
Anthony Tucker
Sybil Lynch.
Business Office
Kricka Asbiry
Paulette Lewis
? 1
The Chronicle
TV OVicf Amrmmm fJim tmdtuflimuim
Home Delivery Subscription Order
? YES, Please send me The Chronicle ? 2 years: $40.95 out of c ?int>/sti? :
? 1 year: $30.72 l?aP. 3572 I
? 6 months: $20.48 j
*S5r?? 1
; " l
Address * Phone
City . ~ Slate Zip
? VISA ? Mastercard ? American Express ? Check enclosed ? Please bill me
Account Number Expiration Dan Signature
" Send to: The Chronicle, P.O. Box 1636, Winston-Salem, NC 27102
The deadline for
news articles is
Monday 5 p.m.
Twanda M. Staley
Attorney & Counselor at Law
Practice Areas Include:
? Child Support
? Child Custody
? Divorce
? Traffic Tickets
? Wills
? Personal Injury
Phone: (336) 723-6626
Fax: (336) 723-7323
Email: lmseal029@cs.com
545 N. lrade Street
Suite 2 L
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Renita O. Thompkins
Attorney &
Counselor at Law
18 Years Experience
REAL ESTATE LAW
Residential & Commercial
Real Estate Closings
Also...
Family Law & Divorce ? Wills & Estates ?
Traffic Offenses
205 West Third Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
(336) 725-0998
MBA Information Session
WAKEMBA
Find out more about Wake Forest's
2-year Evening and 17-month Fast-Track Executive
MBA Programs - Winston-Salem
(Information about other Babcock programs available)
Wednesday, January 16,5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
(formal remarks begin at 6 p.m.) ? = i
?
Worrell Professional Center
Wake Forest University
WAKE FOREST
Babcock Graduate
School of Management _
Ranked #1 in the Southeast
and #11 in the world by
The Wall Street Journal 4/30/01
www.mba.wfu.edu
Evening, Fast-Track Executive and full-time MBA Programs
Winston-Salem 338.758.4584 MBA Program-Charlotte 888.925.3822