"Most of us chase status to some degree, but the more your life revolves around it, the more unhappy you’re likely to be."
I don't think this quite right. I think all of us crave a position of status hierarcy relative to our expectations within our peer group. I think where unhappiness happens is the feeling of not having achieved expected status. And the Hedonic Treadmill theory - basically that we always progress upward in our expectations... we always want more (why the euphoria after the promotion or sale or win... is replaced by the motivation for the next one). This constant need for more is our blessing and curse. It drives exploration, invention and progress. But it also drives terrible selfish behavior and envy.
But you can see how collectivism can derive more relative happiness, because there will be less competition for status in the peer group. Misery loves company. In a free market democracy, merit keeps increasing and the bar for high status keeps rising... as do the individual expectations. It gets harder to get noticed, and it causes people to act out. It flows destuctive.
A productive US happiness machine requires a lot of economic opportunity and growth. We had it. But it is the combination of our past success, our more recent decline and our stuffing of so many into the expectation for upper class status, that has resulted in the drop in happiness... and people acting out.
Many people can find happiness in a simple life, but these are people generally not expecting more. Almost everyone not having achieved some level of expected peer group status will be unhappy. Yes, contributing to society can help with life statisfaction, but for most people, generally not if it does not add perceived peer status.
Frank, you are a highly motivated and ambitious man. I admire your drive for success, and applaud you for it. Atlas Shrugged paints the dystopian picture of a world that went the other way, a world full of Bernie Sanders, AOC's, Barack Obama, and our newest shiny clown, Moron Zamboni. I think of the Bible, and God's generational cycles. World War II is now 80 years gone, a time period when the US was blessed by God for smashing the German and Japanese armies. I believe we are in the post-David, end of Solomon's reign time, now. Good times have produced soft men, as you've pointed out, the feminization of our society is everywhere. Thanks for what you do, I appreciate you.
I feel that most of your comment is sober and correct. I also think your last line is meant to be a joke, but it is worthy of a reply via a friend of mine who acted out that project for a number of years. Even though he had some fun and pleasure, he would always tell me; "Friend, for every ounce of pleasure it gave me, there was an ounce of pain. Always; every time." There was also significant opportunity costs from always chasing the new and exciting conquests; he ultimately recently died alone, with only an internet girlfriend who lived far away. Making good decisions that keep us in good standing with the Lord are less exciting, but spending is always more fun than investing, isn't it?
Thanks for listing putting a relationship with God first. The blink of an eye that is our lifespan is just so short compared to the billions of years we will live in our glorified bodies! When I think what some folks will do for money and power, in the light of eternity, it just seems crazy to me. Your point about great men is well taken- they are few and far between, and the differences between Abe Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Booker T. Washington, George Washington, and George Westinghouse, and the tyrant monsters that were Genghis Kahn, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, and Mao Tse Tung couldn't be a more important distinction.
"Most of us chase status to some degree, but the more your life revolves around it, the more unhappy you’re likely to be."
I don't think this quite right. I think all of us crave a position of status hierarcy relative to our expectations within our peer group. I think where unhappiness happens is the feeling of not having achieved expected status. And the Hedonic Treadmill theory - basically that we always progress upward in our expectations... we always want more (why the euphoria after the promotion or sale or win... is replaced by the motivation for the next one). This constant need for more is our blessing and curse. It drives exploration, invention and progress. But it also drives terrible selfish behavior and envy.
But you can see how collectivism can derive more relative happiness, because there will be less competition for status in the peer group. Misery loves company. In a free market democracy, merit keeps increasing and the bar for high status keeps rising... as do the individual expectations. It gets harder to get noticed, and it causes people to act out. It flows destuctive.
A productive US happiness machine requires a lot of economic opportunity and growth. We had it. But it is the combination of our past success, our more recent decline and our stuffing of so many into the expectation for upper class status, that has resulted in the drop in happiness... and people acting out.
Many people can find happiness in a simple life, but these are people generally not expecting more. Almost everyone not having achieved some level of expected peer group status will be unhappy. Yes, contributing to society can help with life statisfaction, but for most people, generally not if it does not add perceived peer status.
Frank, you are a highly motivated and ambitious man. I admire your drive for success, and applaud you for it. Atlas Shrugged paints the dystopian picture of a world that went the other way, a world full of Bernie Sanders, AOC's, Barack Obama, and our newest shiny clown, Moron Zamboni. I think of the Bible, and God's generational cycles. World War II is now 80 years gone, a time period when the US was blessed by God for smashing the German and Japanese armies. I believe we are in the post-David, end of Solomon's reign time, now. Good times have produced soft men, as you've pointed out, the feminization of our society is everywhere. Thanks for what you do, I appreciate you.
Thanks, John. Nice to get a heart on...
I like your definition of success. Anybody can achieve it, and if they did the world would be a much better place for all of us.
You might appreciate my New Year's greeting:
HAPPY NEW YEAR.
No, really. We need to stay HAPPY this new year.
Despite our problems, there are many so much worse.
Despite our world’s problems, there have been far worse problems in the past.
Outlooks are contagious. We can project depression or we can project hope.
To correct the words of an old song:
Yes, worry. But stay HAPPY!
…Because, 100 New Years from now, all that will survive is the outlook
with which we planted today.
HAPPY HUGS!
--Q, Plano 2025 –for New Year’s 2026
But I wouldn't mind being the guy who slept with the most women... :)
I feel that most of your comment is sober and correct. I also think your last line is meant to be a joke, but it is worthy of a reply via a friend of mine who acted out that project for a number of years. Even though he had some fun and pleasure, he would always tell me; "Friend, for every ounce of pleasure it gave me, there was an ounce of pain. Always; every time." There was also significant opportunity costs from always chasing the new and exciting conquests; he ultimately recently died alone, with only an internet girlfriend who lived far away. Making good decisions that keep us in good standing with the Lord are less exciting, but spending is always more fun than investing, isn't it?
Thanks for listing putting a relationship with God first. The blink of an eye that is our lifespan is just so short compared to the billions of years we will live in our glorified bodies! When I think what some folks will do for money and power, in the light of eternity, it just seems crazy to me. Your point about great men is well taken- they are few and far between, and the differences between Abe Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Booker T. Washington, George Washington, and George Westinghouse, and the tyrant monsters that were Genghis Kahn, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, and Mao Tse Tung couldn't be a more important distinction.
Real success is impossible in this world, because it's getting to the top with clean hands.