Vege -
As I said, I do respect the varying opinion, but you have to consider that some of us find joy in different things. While I like sometimes having lots of free time to do as I please, as soon as I get it, I find myself wanting to be challenged again, and in turn revert back to wanting to work harder. Everyone has a different reason for getting up in the morning, and we don't all share the same vision for what will make us happy.
My family had very little for years, and when my father became very successful in his field, it opened quite a bit more up to the family and increased the standard of living quite a bit (mind you, I came long after the rest of my siblings, there's almost 20 years between myself any my oldest brother, so I was born in a more "financially fortunate" time than the others knew). They were not any more or less happy by having more "stuff", but the freedom to choose whether or not to partake in things that they could not do before was something they valued, and the fact that they came into a fair amount of money shortly before I was born didn't make the family fall apart. My family continued to stay close even after a major lifestyle shift, as the way my siblings were brought up did not allow for the accumulation of objects to overshadow who they really were and what they needed to consider to be most important. You can have a close-knit family who appreciates the simple things regardless of having lots of money or a lack thereof - money itself does not make people less close or less caring, it's upbringing and societal attitudes and how we are raised that over time are a key factor to people going in different directions and prioritizing different (sometimes the wrong) things.
On the converse side, there are many people who have little money in areas near where I live (Milwaukee), but that does not mean that they are necessarily more appreciative of the simple pleasures, nor does it mean that they're close-knit as a family unit. Simply by not having all the money and possessions that you desire does not mean you'll automatically learn that the best things in life are free. If you're rasied in a way that prioritizes money over all, you will find that money and possessions rule your existence. The ability to appreciate simple pleasures is often something that is a learned behavior, and not everyone who has little opportunity for fast financial upward mobility will accept the good in what they have Many are only mad that they don't have more, and in turn, show their anger at those who have achieved greater financial success than they have. That is not an issue of money/capitalism being inherently bad, it's a societal issue of people being rasied under the pretense that money is what is most important without solid core values being instilled as being the top priority.
I know it's a long-winded reply (as if I've ever been known for brevity
), but I think that most of what you have a grudge against is not so much the system itself, but that people have allowed themselves to prioritize money and physical possessions above all else. I agree, such an attitude is not an ideal way to live, but I do hold to the fact that I believe having many options is better than having few, one or none. We're all of our own free will, and we can be sucked into many ideologies that are harmful to ourselves, others, and the world around us - that's just a fact of life no matter where we live. Simply having fewer chances to face adversity does not one a stronger or better person, it simply means less to experience and less opportunity to change one's life in different ways. I'll always prefer to have as many choices as possible with the least interference from society, the government, and anyone else who insists that they know more about what's best for me than myself. That, my friend, is what makes me happy
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, that is why i love Tolstoy's ideas so much).