英語(yǔ)翻譯
How dose spendingconnect to happiness?
One explanation lies in "conspicuous consumption ".The idea is that the rich don't accumulate wealth simply inorder to consume it .Rather they accumulate wealth in order todisplay it ,and their happiness is fueled by their neighbors' envy .As a result ,the country finds itself in the grips of a "luxury fever"----families with annual incomes of $50,000 try to emulate the consumption of those with $70,000 ,who in turn try to emulate those with$140,000 ,and so on .
It's just plain common sense .It's physically impossible for a piece of paper like money to make you happy .Instead what makes people happy is the feeling of security or power money brings .
A recent survey indicates that those from the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans and the Maasai of East Africa are almost equally satisfied .The Maasai are a traditional herding people who have to no electricity or running water and live in huts made of mud .
It follows that economic development and personal income cannot account for the happiness that they are so often linked to .