Sorry, but I have to disagree with that statement absolutely. Money has absolutely nothing to do with happiness, in fact happiness or sadness is how we CHOOSE to respond to our environment, its not an outcome of an input.
I first learnt this important lesson when I started travelling a lot in 3rd world countries and I was struck by the reality that most people were happier there than in my own wealthy 1st world country.
One of the greatest sources of unhappiness in our culture is the belief that more money, a bigger house, a new girlfriend, sports car, boob job etc will make us more happy.
My epiphany came when someone told me, "Happiness is not a destination, its a way of travelling, so hop up and get on the train!"
Some of those happy people in 3rd world countries have very strong family and extended family networks. So it's not so much that they say "I choose to be happy", but they derive their happiness from lots of interaction within this mutual support network. When they come to Australia have you noticed that they have very large numbers to each household, and they are always talking about their cousins/aunties/uncles? If you were to isolate an individual from such a large and tight group, you'd find that he would become depressed very quickly unless there was some other stimulus (money, power, prestige, achievement) to sustain that happiness. Strong family ties is definitely a better way of creating happiness than M,P,P,A, but it's still a
caused happiness. If you think that's a good thing, so do I.
But there's another thing that's occurring to these "happy 3rd world people", and that is that they are starting to see opportunity for advancement. For generations, the idea of advancement was totally unknown - you simply accepted your place. The opportunity to *have more* creates very strong desires when it's a new concept, just look at a two year old as his ego develops. Chinese farmers were once a simple happy people (except when Mao was starving them to death of course); now they see opportunity, they move to the cities and they very quickly adopt the dog eat dog mentality (no pun intended). The newly urbanized Chinese are some of the most ruthless businessmen around. Exploitation and cheating is rampant - this is what I've heard from someone who does business there. I guess the same is true for many of these developing nations.
There's yet one more potential reason why many of these 3rd world people are happy, and that is that they have a belief that poverty is somehow holy and 'good'. They believe they are creating good karma by suffering. So you see this whole picture is not nearly as nice as you think. The only thing we can learn from them is that relationships are quite a good way of sustaining happiness - that's all. Relationships are an
external cause - don't misunderstand that. However, when compared with the amazing jolt of happiness that M,P,P,A gives you, most would choose the latter if given half a chance. Such things are
extremely addictive. Many Chinese are turning to Christianity because it's a bit more accepting of "worldly desire" than Buddhism. They feel guilty for becoming ruthless and desire-filled, but godamnit it feels great to drive a Ferrari....maybe the Christian God can alleviate my guilt. They are following the Western path of development some 50 years back in history. And look at us!...so many turning to Buddhism!
So I'm just saying, don't be fooled by the happiness of some of the poor. Their happiness will disappear over generations as modernization and opportunity occur. Then
they will be where
you are now. Happiness is
always a caused phenomenon, unless you are enlightened. To model yourself on poor is sort of looking backwards in a way. Instead realize that all happiness is temporary, and that you are literally a slave to your desires. One day soon, everything will be taken from you, including your money, your family, your health and your life. Everything you've worked so hard for, taken back! That's what needs contemplating.