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Do you mean money-wise? What's the point if you're not happy?

The only thing I want for my kids besides them being happy, is that their happiness does not depend on the misery of other human beings. Funnily enough, "success" is often used as a synonym for "being a sociopath born with a silver spoon who does not give a damn about not making others miserable".




>The only thing I want for my kids besides them being happy, is that their happiness does not depend on the misery of other human beings.

Not a single sane person has ever suggested that success depends on the misery of other human beings.


I think the point is that - rather than deliberately wishing misery on others - our society is set up such that success often or always implies creating misery for others.


This is wise:

    their happiness does not depend on the misery of other human beings
That's a civilizatory idea.


In the same line of though, happiness as dopamine addiction can lead to sociopathy regardless of wealth production or depletion capacity.


I've never much wanted my kids to be happy. I'd shoot them up with heroin if that's all I cared about. Instead, I want them to make and build things, to repair and improve already-made things. To be productive in a plainly measurable way. And if that means their lives are filled with doubts or misgivings, if they aren't ever quite satisfied, if there's never any time to indulge in ennui and existential navel-gazing... so what? I think the word "happy" as used in the present day is at best problematic, but maybe even profoundly pathological.

People who chase happiness seem to do so poorly at seizing it. I can't really imagine the shitshow that would result from an entire country pursuing it as some matter of policy, but if the results are what we see from one fraction of the country whining that we should pursue it to a far higher degree, then god help us all.

>unnily enough, "success" is often used as a synonym for "being a sociopath born with a silver spoon who does not give a damn about not making others miserable".

Perhaps. But I'm still working on getting the silver spoons ready for my grandchildren, and when my kids are old enough they'll work towards that goal too.




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