<Author>Michael</Author>
<Topic>Can Money Buy Happiness?</Topic>
<Source>CET6 Composition Topic of January 1995</Source>
<Nationality>USA</Nationality>
Some people think that money is the source of happiness and others believe that it is the root of all evil. When Aristotle wrote his book on happiness, 500 years before the Common Era, he identified several conditions which would make a person happy. He said that we become happy because of a good family, a good husband or wife, good children, good friends, a good home, a good education, good health, a good community, and enough wealth for one's station in life. For Aristotle, then, enough wealth needs to be balanced with the other good conditions of life.
There are three kinds of wealth, enough wealth to live a reasonable life, the wealth that will enhance our lives, and excess wealth for which we have no real need. As the world's richest man, Bill Gates has more money than all of the accessible wealth of the 54 African countries. So, he has more money than he could ever need in his life. In this case, I think that he has a responsibility to share that wealth as broadly as possible, especially with those who are less fortunate than the rest of us. He has begun to do this with donations of computers to libraries throughout the US and in other parts of the world. Of course, there is also a self-serving aspect as well, as they are computers from his vast industry of Microsoft, and thus these gifts help increase his own wealth. The late President Mobutu of the former Zaire, was one of the world's richest men, while his people were always in danger of starvation. In this case, for him, money was the root of all evil.
In some cases, then, wealth can lead to greater happiness, but in other cases when it is used in an evil or uncaring manner, it becomes the root of all evil.
