Why do poor people seem happier .

[samssong 10]

To quote Mr Frank Sinatra I my self have been up and down , in and out , right at the top then down again at the bottom.

 

But!!! the one thing that I have have noticed in all these changes is that the ones with least seem to have the most fun .

 

I mean , just last week I visited a mate who lives in a nice little corner of South Sheffield we sat in his front room and he showed me photo's of his place in the Algarve telling me that he was worried about the increasing maintenance that was going up year after year as well as the travelling costs and the problem he was having trying to sell it.

 

We visited his local on Abbey Lane and the discussion in the early bar soon turned to how much was being paid to people on benefits and how they all seemed to have a Sky dish on the outside wall as well as mobile phones and in some cases actually run a car .

 

I was getting quite agitated by the conversation and so I asked if any of the assembled had ever lived on benefits to which they all looked aghast saying how they had built up their wealth through hard work and investing in good pensions and property.

 

In all that afternoon early evening I never heard any one who actually thought that they were privileged and had a good carry on in fact the opposite was the case they all seemed to be worried about property price stagnation and how Brexit would effect investment and pensions .

 

Saturday afternoon I some how found my self on the opposite side of the City in a pub near the old Market area.

 

A guy I know nodded to me as I ordered a half and told the Landlady that he would get that , I thanked him and pretended not to notice as he coppered up the one pound twenty or so and handed it over for my drink.

 

The pub soon filled up with various locals and casual shoppers who lets say are not well healed but before long every one was having a good laugh usually at every ones misfortune , inc the latest lost bet on a dog at Owlerton (that was the hottest tip from the trainer) or the broken washing machine no longer under guarantee as well as a bloke who had been thrown of invalidity because he had been deemed to be fit to work even though he had a false leg, (advise given to chop the other ------ of:hihi:).

 

I had by this time reciprocated my pal by buying him a pint but as the afternoon wore on I realised that he was sat with just a little bit of beer in his glass and I realised that the half he had bought me early on was perhaps the straw that broke the camels back so I filled his glass , he protested and I knew that even if I had supped up and gone after that first drink it would have made no difference to him .

 

The thing is in two Worlds apart last week I mixed with people who I know and love.

But out of those two Worlds the ones having all the fun were the ones who have just enough to get them through the week , they were having a laugh ,helping each other out and not worrying about what tomorrow might bring .

 

I contrast my pals mob on Abbey Lane seemed to have all the worries of the World on their backs .

Funny old World int it.

Edited July 30, 2017 by samssong

[cressida 1,550]

I'm not surprised at all, poorer people have always been known to enjoy themselves - pubs, bingo, coach trips, their weddings are often a riot of fun, their sense of humour gets them through the strife and they are good at helping one another then

 

One thing I can't understand is why they are so often ripped off by the very people they have grown up around

[speedy69 10]

Sat in a boozer in the afternoon, and they/you say that they are poor?

 

I work full time and cant afford to go out, I think they're yanking your chain mate!

[Event Horizo 10]

.

how much was being paid to people on benefits and how they all seemed to have a Sky dish on the outside wall as well as mobile phones and in some cases actually run a car .

 

The welfare state was set up as a safety net for families in times of need. Sorry to burst your bubble but now it's a lifestyle for many families. Bring down welfare payments and make the idle work for their handouts instead of giving it them on a plate.

[El Cid 212]

The latest neighbourhood to have been revealed as the happiest on God’s Earth was the Outer Hebrides. Apparently, its islands scored 8.24 out of 10 in the UK government’s national happiness survey.

A few years ago, Aberdeen was rated one of the three most joyful locations in the UK (in a survey conducted by the accountancy firm PWC).

 

Yet all the money is down South, so perhaps wealth does not make people happier.

[apelike 10]

The one thing about poorer people is that they generally don't have a whacking great debt called a mortgage to worry about. Which in turn leads to even more debt because people then have to have credit to buy stuff.

[Mister M 1,606]

The welfare state was set up as a safety net for families in times of need. Sorry to burst your bubble but now it's a lifestyle for many families. Bring down welfare payments and make the idle work for their handouts instead of giving it them on a plate.

 

The clientele of the welfare state are overwhelmingly pensioners, the disabled or people working who need top ups to their meagre wages. The proportion of working age people who claim benefits is quite small. And of that cohort of working age people who do claim benefits, long term benefit claimants is smaller still.

Although a few years old this article from the Guardian gives some facts & figures:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/reality-check/2013/apr/24/benefits

Edited July 30, 2017 by Mister M

[ez8004 10]

The latest neighbourhood to have been revealed as the happiest on God’s Earth was the Outer Hebrides. Apparently, its islands scored 8.24 out of 10 in the UK government’s national happiness survey.

A few years ago, Aberdeen was rated one of the three most joyful locations in the UK (in a survey conducted by the accountancy firm PWC).

 

Yet all the money is down South, so perhaps wealth does not make people happier.

 

You know Aberdeen is/was awash with money from the oil industry right?

[silentP 10]

The latest neighbourhood to have been revealed as the happiest on God’s Earth was the Outer Hebrides. Apparently, its islands scored 8.24 out of 10 in the UK government’s national happiness survey.

A few years ago, Aberdeen was rated one of the three most joyful locations in the UK (in a survey conducted by the accountancy firm PWC).

 

Yet all the money is down South, so perhaps wealth does not make people happier.

 

There might be wealth but it's not evenly distributed.

 

People in general look at possessions to bring them happiness don't they, but it's short lived, so what's next?

What are we on now, iPhone 7?

[mrcharlie 10]

It's long been known that content of mind is worth more than all the material goods one could buy.

 

I think it's tragic almost verging on pathetic that most seem to spend the best years of their lives working and spending excessively ...for what? To create envy, jealousy, to show off, to pretend that they have left their working class roots - yet the very notion that material wealth can somehow make one middleclass is in itself a very working class ideology and demonstrates blatantly just how shallow these people are.

 

I've no time for "10 bobs" and their seems to plenty around these days....and no time for the bone idle either. But those in between who just get on with their lives and are both sincere and honest always get my respect..always.

Edited July 31, 2017 by mrcharlie

[willman 10]

The one thing about poorer people is that they generally don't have a whacking great debt called a mortgage to worry about. Which in turn leads to even more debt because people then have to have credit to buy stuff.

 

Or is it simply because they can't get these things and get on with life?

 

It's wanting what you've got not having what you want - that matters.

[samssong 10]

The welfare state was set up as a safety net for families in times of need. Sorry to burst your bubble but now it's a lifestyle for many families. Bring down welfare payments and make the idle work for their handouts instead of giving it them on a plate.

 

Agreed matey that Duke of Kent is a real sponger.