How far would you go for money? When most of life’s comforts are directly associated with how much you earn, it becomes a bit tough to under-rate the importance of money in your life. And while we would like to presume that some values are just too precious to put a price on them, ever so often we trade a ‘valued’ item — privacy, honesty or even dirty linen — if given the right price. So, how important is money in a person’s life? Gulf News readers have an honest discussion about whether money makes their world go around. Join the debate by logging on to gnreaders.wordpress.com or write to us at readers@gulfnews.com
14:11 Gulf News: For the right price, are people ready to wash all their dirty linen in public?
14:14 Ramachandran Nair: Money is very important in today’s life, but my personal feeling is that it should not [make you] compromise on basic ethics.
14:14 Patricia Formentera: If you have the money, you can buy all the things you value.
14:14 Mathew Litty: I would say that ... sometimes it becomes an obsession. But fortunately, not everyone is affected by such greed.
14:15 Pooja Vishwanathan: For example, most celebrities discuss their personal lives in public, just to get all the fame and popularity, which will eventually get them the money.
14:15 Sunil Roy: Money beyond a point is just paper and has got only notional value. Unfortunately, people give more importance to the zeroes in their bank balance and strive to increase them. In the process, they are willing to sacrifice more valuable things.
14:15 Jerusha Sequeira: An example would be television shows like ‘Moment of truth’, in which people reveal their most embarassing personal information for money.
14:16 Ramachandran Nair: There could be many other things that satisfy us in life, but money is one thing that cannot be substituted.
14:20 Gulf News: ‘Money can’t buy happiness’ is just a poor man’s saying. What do you think?
14:20 Sandhya Shetty: If I love travelling and I want to go places, can I [do it] if I didn’t have the money? I can’t, simple.
14:21 Mathew Litty: Many people believe that you can buy happiness because we are living in a society that is so rooted in materialism. But you can’t buy happiness.
14:22 Yesha Gondalia: Yes, [apparently] ‘money can’t buy happiness’, but everyone is collecting money, just to be happy.
14:23 Sunil Roy: The greatest pleasures in life need not cost much. A walk down a creekside when the sun is just coming out early in the morning will bring much more happiness to me than a five-course meal at a restaurant.
14:23 Rahil Khan: Money certainly buys you comfort, but comfort is not happiness. It is an inner feeling, which can be attained without the need to use money
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14:23 Jerusha Sequeira: No, it is not just a poor man’s saying. With more money comes more insecurity about that money. People start to focus on acquiring more, and forget the original purpose of [having] the money.
14:23 Patricia Formentera: Honestly, I do believe that money is the main ingredient towards a happy life.
14:24 Sudha Kathuria: Money cannot buy happiness, but can put you in a happy state of mind, for sure.
14:27 Pooja Vishwanathan: Well, if we don’t have the money, then even buying a [bar of] chocolate in a supermarket would be difficult. A man from the middle income group would have to think a hundred times, really. Whereas a rich man, even before thinking, would have it by his side.
14:29 Patricia Formentera: Nobody can claim to be happy if their family’s or their own stomach is [empty].
14:33 Jerusha Sequeira: Yes, money can make us happy, too. It may not always be buying things. For example if I had a lot of money and gave some to charity, that would definitely make me happy knowing I had helped someone. And this is not material happiness.
14:33 Gulf News: You don’t need friends when you have money. What do you think?
14:33 Ramachandran Nair: Friends prove to be more helpful than money on certain occasions.
14:34 Sandhya Shetty: In fact you [might] think you have more friends when you are rich, [but] you are sadly mistaken.
14:34 Patricia Formentera: I think it’s the other way around — when you need friends you should have money.
14:34 Pooja Vishwanathan: No, I disagree. You do need friends when you have money. You need all your loved ones by your side, no matter how rich you get.
14:35 Mathew Litty: If you have a lot of money, you will waste a lot on your friends . If you have true friends it is different — they will stand by you whether you are broke or not. What you have in your pocket won’t matter. There are certain friends who are only around in good times, but desert you in bad times and that is what I hate the most.
14:37 Meghana Sudhir: Spending on friends is not what matters. I don’t believe in throwing parties every now and then simply because I have money. Real friends don’t need it.
14:37 Ramachandran Nair: People who have enough wealth will always have a good circle of friends.
14:37 Juvelia Salazar: Friendship is not directly linked to having money. Having tons of money does not equate to [having] tons of friends.
14:38 Sandhya Shetty: It is the blatant truth, unfortunately, so I have to agree with you on this. Though I don’t belong to this clan.
14:39 Sunil Roy: Money is like a magnet and will attract lots of people. They are just acquaintances and most of them will disappear when the money starts dwindling. Genuine friendships are forged based on the interaction of the heart and mind.
14:40 Rachita Iyer: Mr. Nair, wealthy people do not have a good circle of friends, they just have contacts.
14:44 Gulf News: The final statement of debate: Popularity is worth the betrayal.
14:45 Sandhya Shetty: Of course in today’s dog-eat-dog world, people are willing to shed every possible inhibition just to get the ‘popular’ tag.
14:45 Sunil Roy: Not at all. Popularity is fleeting and will last just for a few moments. Betrayal will cause a wound that will never heal.
14:47 Rachita Iyer: Who doesn’t want to be popular? The only people who don’t want to be popular are the people who already are popular and they are the people who would choose loyalty over popularity.
