Posted on 11/16/2022 7:19:51 AM PST by devane617
A team of researchers at the University of British Columbia, working with two wealthy donors has found that transferring money from rich people to poor people can increase the level of happiness reported by the poor people who receive the money.
In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes experiments they conducted that involved transferring money from rich people to poor people in both rich and poor countries.
There is an old proverb that says "you can't buy happiness." But that may not be true, at least for people living at the lowest levels of modern society. Also, for many years, people have debated the impact of money on levels of happiness. Some studies have shown that the rich are no happier than everyone else.
But what such studies sometimes overlook is the impact of an increase in money on people who can benefit the most—the poor. To measure this impact, the researchers enlisted the assistance of two wealthy donors who together donated $2 million to the study. Portions of that money were then distributed to subjects.
Two hundred people were given $10,000 each with the only stipulation that they report monthly on any changes in the level of happiness they experienced due to the sudden gift. Each was also asked to fill out a final report six months later.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
I continue to believe that if they took every penny from the rich and dispersed it to the poor..... in less than 10 years the money would all be back where it started.
I wonder if they did a study on how the 'rich' felt about have their money stolen by the state and given to the poor to buy votes. Do tell, did it make them happier?
the biggest problem is, not being able to be just OK...
it’s not all joy or sadness, most of the time it’s just OK, accept it
Consider a swimming pool where the water is money. This study would have us believe that siphoning money from the deep end to the shallow end will raise the depth. One must also consider that this wealth transfer must involve a government with the power to take from those who have to give to those who don’t. What happens when one or more of those who have accumulated their wealth says no? The government must then be despotic and ruthless and forcibly take and punish those who resist. History is full of such schemes from Marx to countries like North Korea,Cuba and Venezuela. All of these schemes of socialist utopia have failed and given way to repressive and despotic rule. Read Hayek’s “Road to Serfdom” or the works of Milton Friedman or Orwell
History is full of such schemes from Marx to countries like North Korea,Cuba and Venezuela. All of these schemes of socialist utopia have failed and given way to repressive and despotic rule....
Good analogy....not just countries....one group of schemers is missing.....the Dems!
Suspect being paid to do very easy and silly research makes the researchers happy too.
“And water is still wet.”
No kidding.
Well, the researchers were poor before they started the study. Now they are happier given the transfer of money to them to do the study.
Bill Gates should start first.
Four year olds.
They actually had to do a study to show this?
That depends if they gave the money away or it was taken through obscene levels of taxation. I'm not rich, but I'm not happy to see them take my money and give to the non-working class.
Hell,I’m not poor but you can make me happy if you hand me some of the taxpayer cash!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.