The saying money can’t buy happiness comes from years of casual observation. It seems to most that after the necessity luxury line has been passed while shopping, money simply becomes a sort of happiness placebo.
Lets face it, everyone wants to have things just a bit better. Getting rid of that old worn out whatever and getting a new one that is an upgrade makes a lot of sense in many cases. Just like software, each successive release takes advantage of newer and more powerful computers and as a result has higher minimum requirements. That all leads to buying a new computer that can keep up with that power hungry software. So in cases like this it becomes a bit of a necessity to upgrade.
In a different scenario, going from your basic Toyota Corolla to a top end Lexus without justified reason leaves a sense of empty happiness. Yes the car has more features and some of them are just over the top. They serve no real reason except to perhaps offset the stress of the higher monthly payments for the car. So for this type of upgrade one has to ask what would justify it. If it is just appearance implying that person may be better then others, then they have taken the first step into materialism as well as isolation.
Spending extra money for things starts to become a bit of a game for the high society. Big houses only serve as bigger storage for the things they buy. The things they buy often have a brand name attached, and that simply adds more to the cost. A cheap set of jeans is just as durable and just as comfortable as some expensive brand name. For them that would only serve to impress people who look for brand names, and that is all part of the game of status.
As the status game continues, like any game the goal is to win. But that leaves the question of how can you win if there is no set goal or target. In short it is like walking up an endless down escalator. The moment they lose their ability to keep climbing or just keep up for that matter, they are quickly deposited at the bottom with the people who are not playing this foolish game. All points and achievements are stripped away and they are viewed as of lesser status by the people still playing the status game.
For those people that were deposited back at the bottom, there is often depression and a feeling of being worthless. For the most part the rest of the world takes little pity of those who implied they were better and set about visually demonstrating it. The status game is all about isolation so there is also a sense of detachment as all that isolation has left them out of touch with the realities of life. The sense of family and being part of the community has become alien to them.
Next Part 2
