第3章 金钱买不到幸福

Money Doesn't Buy Happiness

佚名/Anonymous

金钱买得到幸福吗？买不到！但是，钱多一点儿，幸福是不是也会多些呢？我们很多人会咧嘴一笑，点点头。我们相信，财富的多少与精神愉悦之间有些关联。多数人会说：我们确实想成为富人。现在，美国大学生中有3/4的人认为，“经济的富足”是“非常重要”或“必不可少”的。金钱的确重要。

富人更幸福吗？研究人员发现，在一些贫困国家里，相对富足的确能使安康的可能性更大。因为我们需要食物、休息、庇护所和社会联系。

但是，生活中有这样一个令人惊讶的事实。在那些几乎每个人都能拥有生活必需品的国家里，财富的增长对幸福的影响并不大。收入和幸福之间的相互关系是“令人惊异的微小”。密歇根大学研究员罗纳德·英格利哈特在他的调查报告中是这样评述的——他曾对16个国家的17万人口作了调查。一旦人们的生活安逸了，增加的物质财富所带来的幸福感则会逐渐降低。第二张馅饼永远没有第一张味道鲜美，或者，第二次10万美元带来的兴奋感远不如第一次强烈。

甚至是彩票中奖者和《财富》杂志上选出的全美国最富有的前100人都表示，他们感受到的幸福只是比一般美国人稍微多一点点而已。发大财带来的只是暂时的快乐。但是，从长远来看，财富就像健康一样，完全缺失会使苦难滋生，但拥有并不能保证幸福。幸福似乎并不是得到我们想要的东西，而是满足于我们拥有的东西。

经济浪潮回升，我们的幸福感是否会随之上涨呢？今天，我们是否比1940年更幸福呢？那时候，2/5的家庭还没有淋浴或浴盆，往炉子里添一块木头或煤炭就是取暖了，35%的家庭没有卫生间。

事实上，我们并没比以前更幸福。从1957年以来，美国说自己“很幸福”的人数从35%降至32%。与此同时，离婚率是原来的两倍，青少年自杀率几乎是原来的三倍，犯罪率则高达原来的四倍（尽管最近有所降低），消极的人（特别是青少年）越来越多，超过了以往任何时期。

这种财富飞速增长，精神却不断萎靡的状况，我称之为“美国矛盾”。我们拥有了大房子，家庭却破裂了；收入高了，精神却更低迷；有了可靠的权利，却失去了礼貌；我们善于谋生，却往往不会营造生活；我们庆祝成功，又怀念目标；我们珍视自由，却又渴望交流。在这个物质充裕的时代，我们的精神却感到饥渴。

Does money buy happiness？ Not！ Ah， but would a little more money make us a little happier？ Many of us smirk and nod. There is， we believe， some connection between fiscal fitness and feeling fantastic. Most of us would say that， yes， we would like to be rich. Three in four American collegians now consider it "very important" or "essential" that they become "very well off financially". Money matters.

Well， are rich people happier？ Researchers have found that in poor countries， being relatively well off does make for greater well-being. We need food， rest， shelter and social contact.

But a surprising fact of life is that in countries where nearly everyone can afford life's necessities， increasing affluence matters surprisingly little. The correlation between income and happiness is "surprisingly weak"， observed University of Michigan researcher Ronald Inglehart in one 16-nation study of 170，000 people. Once comfortable， more money provides diminishing returns. The second piece of pie， or the second $100，000， never tastes as good as the first.

Even lottery winners and the Forbes'100 wealthiest Americans have expressed only slightly greater happiness than the average American. Making it big brings temporary joy. But in the long run wealth is like health： its utter absence can breed misery， but having it doesn't guarantee happiness. Happiness seems less a matter of getting what we want than of wanting what we have.

Has our happiness floated upward with the rising economic tide？ Are we happier today than in 1940， when two out of five homes lacked a shower or tub？ When heat often meant feeding wood or coal into a furnace？ When 35 percent of homes had no toilet？

Actually， we are not. Since 1957， the number of Americans who say they are "very happy" has declined from 35 to 32 percent. Meanwhile， the divorce rate has doubled， the teen suicide rate has nearly tripled， the violent crime rate has nearly quadrupled (even after the recent decline)， and more people than ever(especially teens and young adults) are depressed.

I call this soaring wealth and shrinking spirit "the American paradox". More than ever， we have big houses and broken homes， high incomes and low morale， secured rights and diminished civility. We excel at making a living but often fail at making a life. We celebrate our prosperity but yearn for purpose. We cherish our freedoms but long for connection. In an age of plenty， we feel spiritual hunger.