Conversation #5: Jahira Bethune

TED Talk Premise
Maximize individual freedom
Choice
More welfare
Aware of risk
Perception drugs cannot be bought but are marketed to the US. Only through doctors’ daily
decisions of who to be. Other things we are thinking of when trying to complete school work.
Example – he minimized the school work load by 20% because of this
This is why we need more nature as a model in life for cognitive choice making.

Adding options to people’s lives out of expectations and do not help but however they do cause
less satisfaction even with good results. He mentioned as a secret to happiness is low
expectations. Critical thinking is a need when making decisions with many options. Material
affluence enables all of these choice and industrial societies and complicated choices make us
worse off and hurt us. Income redistribution will make everyone better. If you shatter a fish bowl
an image to make everything possible you decrease satisfaction and increase misery plus
disaster.
I decided to read the article “You Try to Live on 500k in This Town” by Alan salkin. I deem this
particular article unreliable. Unfortunately, I noticed that a correction had been made on
February 15th 2009. Allen soaking had falsely stated the maximum annual source deduction for
salaried employees to be $596 a week however, it was $6,621.20 at this time. So can have
falsely stated other information. Furthermore, “you Try to Live on 500k in This Town” can be
depicted as an article of much information. “But in the neighborhoods of NYC and its suburbs
where successful bankers live, half a million a year can go very fast” says salkin. Just private
schools, mortgage, co-op maintenance fee, and a nanny gets us to $269,000 excluding taxes!
500k could not possibly eat us while insufficiently especially not with the family. Even those who
are closely associated with money and are paid well, such as “bankers who are living on the
upper East side making two or three million a year, reach a balance of zero by the end of the
year”. Salkins concern is the idea that has been presented. We would all have to settle, “move
to BK or Hoboken, put the children in public school and buy metrocards”. As a 23 year old, I’m
overwhelmed after viewing the Ted talk and reading the article. In my opinion, money cannot
buy happiness! Ted talk mentions that their secret to happiness is low expectations. Low
expectations would not allow us to desire anything too much other than what we are and need
of. Salkin gives various examples and facts concerning the money that is really necessary to
live one life. With that being said, money cannot buy happiness. Money can only buy what life
requires. Anything other than that which we purchase is simply temporary satisfaction. I’m sure
that not even half of this world is making a salary of 500k. To think that it takes even a dollar
more brings more anxiety and depression rather than happiness.