People are miserable in Northern Virginia (Lincolnia, Norton: ski resorts, home, income)

[Old Guard]

Originally Posted by JoanCrawford

The only ones happy here are those driven by greed and money.

This sounds like something cool to say, but when you think about it at all it is just ignorant. The ones that are truly happy are the ones that have so much wealth that they do not even think what life would be if they did not have it. The ones who cannot even imagine that there could have been a life where they did not have it. The ones who take it for granted. People driven by greed or money are rarely happy because by definition they are still driven by greed and money. Thanks for playing.

[djplourd]

Originally Posted by Old Guard

This sounds like something cool to say, but when you think about it at all it is just ignorant. The ones that are truly happy are the ones that have so much wealth that they do not even think what life would be if they did not have it. The ones who cannot even imagine that there could have been a life where they did not have it. The ones who take it for granted. People driven by greed or money are rarely happy because by definition they are still driven by greed and money. Thanks for playing.

If you define happiness by how much wealth you've accumulated then I think you're way off base. Does wealth help? Absolutely, but it isn't the holy grail towards finding happiness. Family, friends, health, and so many other things are so much more important.

[Old Guard]

Originally Posted by djplourd

If you define happiness by how much wealth you've accumulated then I think you're way off base. Does wealth help? Absolutely, but it isn't the holy grail towards finding happiness. Family, friends, health, and so many other things are so much more important.

Where did I say that I define happiness by how much wealth you accumulated. I was responding to a post that said that the only people happy in NOVA are those driven by greed and money. I think that statement is incorrect.

[JoanCrawford]

Originally Posted by Old Guard

I think that statement is incorrect.

It's not... you clearly stated it.

[Old Guard]

Originally Posted by JoanCrawford

The only ones happy here are those driven by greed and money.

Originally Posted by JoanCrawford

It's not... you clearly stated it.

I think your original statement, first quote, was self serving and ignorant. I do not think wealth has anything to do with happiness, but it does help. If you think that there is a problem with my response please elaborate because it did not exclude anyone, nor was it phrased as an absolute like your statement. I do think that people driven by greed and money are by definition not going to be happy which is why I find what you said to be particularly self serving and ignorant.

[NOVA_guy]

Originally Posted by djplourd

If you define happiness by how much wealth you've accumulated then I think you're way off base. Does wealth help? Absolutely, but it isn't the holy grail towards finding happiness. Family, friends, health, and so many other things are so much more important.

Let's be honest though, wealth plays a pretty significant part in your happiness, we can all pretend it doesn't but it does... that doesn't make a person greedy or money-hungry that just means we work hard and most are well-compensated for it.

[mormegil27]

There is a point where you have enough money to be content after which more money doesn't increase happiness - this has been studied many times statistically. If you haven't reached this point you can be happier with more money.

I would classify this point of happiness with being able to pay your bills (also how I would define middle class) without needing 2nd or 3rd jobs. I am about to start a 2nd job because I cannot pay all my bills. And I have a PhD with a 6 figure salary. Granted I'm young, have high student loans, a child in preschool and no family in the area to help, I was raised lower class so I have no family safety net, and I also have some medical bills. I'm not necessarily complaining, I'm doing ok compared to a large number of people in our country, but there is something off when a 6 figure salary no longer cuts it.

I've found NOVA to be the least happy place I've lived, both for myself and other people. Sure, there are always going to be unmarried yuppies with good private sector salaries and no family responsibility living in trendy neighborhoods and living it up. But once you have family responsibility the house of cards falls and you quickly realize the cost of living is stacked against you. If you don't have enough money for anything extra, you have no life (outside your job and child) and I think most people would be less than optimally happy in this situation. We keep making friends here who move away after a year or 2 because the area is impossible to live in and they can't make it work / are unhappy. We have discussed moving away simply because our friends keep leaving.

Here is the problem: the massive private sector contracting that occurred while Bush was president (I don't know whether he was the direct cause, I point my finger more at congress) ballooned the cost of living to unreasonable levels, creating a 2 class society - those who set roots before ~2002 and those after. If you bought your house before 2002 you are laughing and likely are very happy, your $200k investment is now $450k and your salary has likely increased to offset the housing rise while your mortgage has stayed the same. But if you came in after, particularly in the last 10 years, you can't meet the cost challenge (plus if you are young you have massive student loans). The are 2 washingtons, older people who benefited from the contracting boom and young people who come in for a few years and leave once family responsibility shows up.

I have lived in Sydney, AU, Oregon and NY. All of those places had better quality of life, by far, and generally happier people in my experience. Of course some people are happy here, I have serious doubts that this is the norm, at least for people under 40.

[Bigfoot424]

So VRE. No explanation of what your first and only post was about in this thread?

[airjay75]

Originally Posted by mormegil27

There is a point where you have enough money to be content after which more money doesn't increase happiness - this has been studied many times statistically. If you haven't reached this point you can be happier with more money.

I would classify this point of happiness with being able to pay your bills (also how I would define middle class) without needing 2nd or 3rd jobs. I am about to start a 2nd job because I cannot pay all my bills. And I have a PhD with a 6 figure salary. Granted I'm young, have high student loans, a child in preschool and no family in the area to help, I was raised lower class so I have no family safety net, and I also have some medical bills. I'm not necessarily complaining, I'm doing ok compared to a large number of people in our country, but there is something off when a 6 figure salary no longer cuts it.

I've found NOVA to be the least happy place I've lived, both for myself and other people. Sure, there are always going to be unmarried yuppies with good private sector salaries and no family responsibility living in trendy neighborhoods and living it up. But once you have family responsibility the house of cards falls and you quickly realize the cost of living is stacked against you. If you don't have enough money for anything extra, you have no life (outside your job and child) and I think most people would be less than optimally happy in this situation. We keep making friends here who move away after a year or 2 because the area is impossible to live in and they can't make it work / are unhappy. We have discussed moving away simply because our friends keep leaving.

Here is the problem: the massive private sector contracting that occurred while Bush was president (I don't know whether he was the direct cause, I point my finger more at congress) ballooned the cost of living to unreasonable levels, creating a 2 class society - those who set roots before ~2002 and those after. If you bought your house before 2002 you are laughing and likely are very happy, your $200k investment is now $450k and your salary has likely increased to offset the housing rise while your mortgage has stayed the same. But if you came in after, particularly in the last 10 years, you can't meet the cost challenge (plus if you are young you have massive student loans). The are 2 washingtons, older people who benefited from the contracting boom and young people who come in for a few years and leave once family responsibility shows up.

I have lived in Sydney, AU, Oregon and NY. All of those places had better quality of life, by far, and generally happier people in my experience. Of course some people are happy here, I have serious doubts that this is the norm, at least for people under 40.

I think that is a great post, mormegil27, and I think you raise some very good points about just how difficult life has become for younger generations. The only thing I wonder is to what degree the problems you mention are being faced by younger generations thoughout the country, not just here in NoVA and the DC area. I seem to recall an article recently in the Post, I believe, about how young people are gravitating towards the very places that are most difficult for them to afford, but they are also gravitating to those areas because there are jobs to be had in those areas so I think there is a bit of a catch-22 about the whole situation. Sure, younger people can move to lower cost areas, but the jobs may not be there for them - they may have a difficult time finding them. Maybe this problem is worse in NoVA, but I do wonder just to what degree it is or is not.

[Old Guard]

JoanCrawford said "The only ones happy here are those driven by greed and money."

My response was that people who are not driven by money and greed and do not have think about money are more likely to be happy. If they can do it on $200 a week, fine. But if, like JoanCrawford, this is what you think about and are concerned with then you will not be happy.

Driven and greed are not positive words. Sure, good things can come from being driven, but being driven is not usually a good feeling and will probably contribute to unhappiness. Greed has a negative connotation and there are lots of stories throughout cultures that warn against greed and avarice. Being driven by greed and money to me seems to be the worst of both words as there is never a way to achieve your goal. There will always be more money. This seems to be a particularly good recipe for unhappiness.

Perhaps people like JoanCrawford would be more happy if they did not concern themselves with what others have and they do not have and find more positive and productive things to do with their time?