Money and happiness

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In my home Country a new show started airing this month on TV. That in itself this is nothing special, it happens on a regular basis; unless one would say it hardly ever happens During Summer. Summer seems to be the season in which popular TV shows are endlessly repeated. Missing it on one channel doesn’t really matter as you can probably see it next day or the day after on another channel…

Anyway, in the midst of all the shows in repeat, a new show appeared with the interesting, if not provocative title: Money Buys Happiness.

At first it seems to be a play on words on the the old adage ‘Money doesn’t buy happiness’. Happiness being an inner thing; a state of mind even ~ where money is definitely something that is at play outside of ourselves. Although it has also been said that ‘Money Makes The World Go Around’. So, whether money can buy happiness or not; it is most definitely something important in our world today…

So back to the TV show ‘Money Buys Happiness’.
In this show three candidates make a pitch for their reason why they should be given money. At the end of the show the audience, who has a maximum € 10.000 to give away, decides who will get which amount of money, if any.
And whether the money is needed for extensive dentistry, or to embark upon a pilgrimage to Santiago the Compostela; to keep your flying license, or to get the specific education that will most likely land you a job ~ all of that doesn’t matter. Each candidate makes the pitch, argues the point, answers questions, all before waiting for a couple of minutes in which the audience decides if, and if so how much money they will receive.
The program implies that if a candidate is given all or part  of the required sum of money necessary for their endeavor, it will make the candidate happy.

One cannot argue with the fact that if you really need something in your life, and you don’t have the money to make it happen ~ that amount being given to you will spell RELIEF in capital letters. On the other hand it is as if this is a kind of crowd-sourcing on reality TV. 15 minutes of fame…

Having seen the program a coupe of times now, I am pondering both relief and happiness. And while the relief is obvious when an amount of money is allocated to a person’s cause on this show ~ it seems that not the money received, but what is gained from the experience is what may eventually bring happiness…
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