Or are they one in the same? After countless hours contemplating peoples actions and the trends I witness growing up in a capitalist environment, I cannot find a definitive answer or universal truth. Rationally speaking, it should be accurate to say people are aiming for happiness by gaining status and money, however while looking at the evidence I come to a different conclusion.

People are working their lives away, killing and dying in order to gain either money and/or status. In the society where money earns more respect than wisdom or knowledge, this fact is apparent in everyday life. An investment banker or QC lawyer earns enough to buy anything and therefore has the respect from people whom he comes in contact with. The religious figurehead or teacher earns little or none and therefore must prove his worth to society.

Status serves the ego. That is natural and understandable. Once you accrue enough money, you have to move onto something else, and if you are ambitious enough status is the key. But why? This may be an instance where we can utilize Freud’s line of thought. Where people are subserviant to their own sense of ego and id and have no control over their subconscious thought and action. We all know a person or a few people who are doing something they hate simply for the money. Another reason for peoples need to earn craploads of cash must come from outside the person, the society in which they live. In the west are we not reminded of our own monetary value and status everyday of our lives? The car we drive in comparison with the latest Merc on the billboards. The size of our house in comparison with the superstars house you just saw on MTV. Or perhaps the value and respect you have in your position at work in comparison to the guy in the office next to you.

To me it seems more and more to lead a happy life you need moderation throughout all aspects of your existence. While it is obvious you need enough money to live and be comfortable, that does not mean you must be one of the richest to be happy. Why aim to be rich? There will always almost be someone who is richer and although you may be known to be a wealthy person, there are many many more people like you. Greed could account for a portion of this group but why work so hard to have so much money when you could simply work and not spend?

Maybe I am too young to understand the motives behind being very wealthy and having a high professional status. In my opinion it is worth much more to own a high level of wealth in knowledge and thought. These are the people whom I have the utmost amount of respect for. By the same token all people earn the god-given respect they deserve, until they prove unworthy.

People have become more career orientated than ever, allowing monetary and material wealth drive them to greater highs and much further lows.
Aside from the business culture, monetary wealth is creating a new culture of respect. The person without money has no value and it is depicted in the ways in which they live. If the person has no value, they are easily terminated and quickly forgotten. The thousands of Iraqis who have perished during the most current war in their region, are just numbers on a screen or page. The westerners who die are glorified and famed for martyrdom. Why is it the people the west fight against are stigmatized as evil? A possible reason for this may be their opposing political belief system. This is explored further by Giorgio Agamben in “Sovereign Police”.

Do the rich aim to be rich or aim to be happy?
This is something I usually think about when justifying a career path. What will make me happy? If a person enjoys the work they do, and it just so happens their job earns substantial amounts of money, I cant see anything wrong with it - as long as they have happiness in other areas of their existence. But the same does not go for the guy working toward being rich or have a powerful status. Does there always have to be a sacrifice?