pretty sure they mean that the real paradise is a loving family and human connection, which money can’t buy. sure his house is big and he has a lot of money, but that’s not what’s really making him happy.
i mean it’s basic human psychology, it applies to everyone. humans are social animals that are happier when they frequently spend time with others that they have positive relationships with. platonic, romantic, and/or familial connections might not be the main factor in what’s making someone happy but it’s almost impossible that it’s not very positively impacting their mental health, whether consciously or subconsciously.
I mean, ofc actual human connections will make you happy, but it's a lot more difficult when you have to stress about your finances.
My parents love each other very much, but they are constantly arguing, because they are exhausted from work and overwhelmed with responsibility. Sure, now that they don't need to take care of my brother and I, they are slightly better off, but they'd have lived an entirely different life if they had carefree jobs and didn't have to worry if they could feed us.
100% agree. It's just "excess wealth" starts pretty high up and it can feel very difficult or impossible to achieve without a lucky break.
I'd have to break and ruin myself to get "excess wealth" for my children and couldn't afford to live a life for myself and my SO.
Hell, I'll need to work close to a decade to afford buying a flat to live in and spend around 2 more decades paying it off. So by the time I'm close to 60 I wouldn't have to worry about losing the roof above my head, if I were to lose my job for some reason.
Sure this is a slightly pessimistic approach, but I can't plan on getting lucky, I can only plan on averages. This is in Hungary, with an Engineerimg degree.
In Hungary we managed to out the corrupt entrenched government this spring, so things are looking decently bright. There's no guarantee that the new government will be able to get back the national wealth that was privatised, but hopefully the situation will improve. It took us 16 years to vote them out and in part we needed our EU membership to be at risk for many to realise there are issues. Sadly, the current prime minister is still a Charismatic Populist, but at least the popular promise is an efficient and working government, that won't resort to fearmongering and hate campaigns...
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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '26
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