The struggle for wealth and power, i'm pretty sure has been around for a good long time as well, depending on what you believe in. AND, since happiness is an idea, and wealth/money.... well..... Comparing happiness to wealth is almost stupid, because how can you possibly define happiness? Happiness is an idea, power is an idea as well, but money/wealth is something physical. I'm not doing the whole money can't buy happiness argument, it has already been proven that money CAN buy happiness, because asking if something CAN happen automatically defaults to yes. But, to say happiness has been around longer than money, can't possibly be proven because happiness is only an idea, well, everything imaginable can be an idea, so that just doesn't make sense. Even the sickest minded people in the world could have been happy. But having wealth/money and power, has always been around, and it is something I'm willing to bet a majority of the world struggle to gain, even if they were unwilling to say it out loud. Just those people that are "happy" with a paycheck to paycheck life, I know that if they had the opprotunity to gain wealth or power, I'd bet in favor of them accepting it. Again, all that fantasy land BS about people being happy with what they have is great and all, but get real people, we all look forward to something better. We are NEVER satisfied, because if we were, what would be the point of living, there is always something we want to accomplish in life, even if it is just to live another day, and in order to live, we have basic needs that we have to fufill and that requires physical objects, and nowadays most things we need to survive cost $$$, there are exceptions, love can be achieved by any two people, but you got the rich guy vs. the broke guy, and the girl has a functioning brain, and she sees that the rich guy can support her, and as long as the guy isn't a total phsyco, well, we know how that story works in real life. So, blah blah blah... blabbity blah, there is my 3 am food of thought. I seem to be at my A game right before I want to sleep. Long story short: Money, Wealth, Power, it's what moves the world, it is what most people want in their life, and some people go to extremes to gain it. We want more in life, because people are never satisfied in life, and if they are, then their time for them to reach the heavens (or other places depending on what they have done), is there for the taking. Happiness, is an idea, it's an idea that is widely accepted and highly referred to, but considering that a murderer can be happy by killing people, and a billionaire can be happy because he is at the top, and the average joe can be happy working his 9 to 5, each of those people, still strive to do better (or worse depending how you look at it) because they are not satisfied. I want more of everything in my life. I'm only 19, yet I strive to learn as much as I can, about so many things, and I have been able to realize that everyone wants more, everyone has something they put in the effort to gain, and if you live in most developed countries, you are working to make money, to improve your life and to gain more wealth. I don't see this changing in the future, anytime soon, because it has been that way for thousands of years. Besides, I love discussing this stuff because most people probably will not or do not believe this or just refuse to believe it to make their current situation feel better to themselves, what better than to create ideas of comfort to yourself and shut out the cold harsh truth about the world? We now know why religions have been created! But that is a WHOLE other discussion completely and that is something I don't care to discuss
They call that Economics -- for those of you that DO NOT belive money can make you happy.........why do you trade? - nathan
It's official...money doesn't buy happiness. LOL http://transobj.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20060630/HAPPINESS30?section=Science
I will answer your question, but I also have to say that the question is flawed. I also have some questions for you: How old are you, how long have you been trading, and, are you blessed financially (regardless of the means by which you acquired any wealth) ? Money is created through action. It is a form of reward for working/thinking. I am passionate about what I do but it does not define me, like I said earlier, money on its own creates no emotive response - its the process of attaining it that I'm driven by. The same is true of physical fitness, the process is rewarding and the end goal is a healthy body, but, I don't exercise for the sole purpose of looking healthy. I exercise because it makes me feel good to be disciplined and to take care of myself. I trade because the process is challenging and I love competition. I am also drawn to risks (although I don't consider trading risky - I do consider "investing" risky). I also learn something new everyday from the markets - its been a long time and I'm still fascinated on a daily basis by what the markets do. Trading teaches me discipline and humility. It also teaches me to accept and embrace my shortcomings and mistakes - its ironic as I feel no shame when I screw up a trade (I forgive myself instantly) yet if I say something stupid/offensive to someone, I will often dwell on it for hours. At this point in my life I can honestly say that I would trade 1 share at a time if my finances were to not allow me to trade a greater amount. My comment to you is be careful of your motives at all times in your life, question your goals and always take time to assess the situation (be it interpersonal/financial) and learn all you can. The value is in the process, not in the end goal.
That's actually pretty complicated. To find a physician who is permitted to prescribe buprenorphine: http://naabt.org/patient_dr_connection.cfm However, only a tiny minority of these M.D.'s fully understand that for many refractory depression patients, habitual opiate use isn't a 'drug problem' at all, but rather the only known effective method of relieving their depression. If someone really needs bupe for depression: Instead of attempting to find an <b>existing</b> M.D. who already has permission from the prohibition enforcement thugs to prescribe bupe AND understands the concepts I've explained on my site... In practice it's just easier to explain the situation to the most open minded physicians (without bupe script permission) you know, with the goal of convincing (or bribing) one of them to undergo the 8 hour training requirement, thus obtaining permission to write bupe scripts.
Indeed, as has been often quoted from Gordon Gekko in 'Wall Street', "greed - for lack of a better word - is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms -- greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of mankind."
Cutten Thanks for bringing up that beautiful quote, I went back a few pages to find Iceman's post, so would not have noticed it otherwise. If I were to answer your question I would say that the meaning and substance that he could have chosen was to touch, if not dwell, in his very essence, for only then could he have found the peace and completeness that he was searching for throughout his life via possessions, titles and experiences. Or to put it another way, to see what he was before he was born and what he will be after he dies, for upon death everything that one thinks they are dies and what they truly are remains. To quote Ramana Maharshi: " Whatever the means adopted you must at last return to the self, so why not abide in the self here and now.... what is not permanent is not worth striving for.....". Not that I would like to spend 50 years up on a mountain like Ramana Maharshi, but I know what he and many others like him have said to be true. To the poster above you, I would quote the Tao Te Ching, which says that "truth waits for eyes unclouded by longing", so seeing truth through the eyes of a Gordon Gekko is just another fantasy IMO, as Ivan Ilych also discovered.