What would you choose?

[Radiantshadow]

I've already been homeless, so it wouldn't be a harsh choice. Poverty + happiness. The potential for psychological damage from a hellish, dehumanizing environment is too much for me to gamble; gold ain't all that glitters, as they say. Poverty would be a reality check and a motivator to recall humility & mortality, thus making me work harder for what I want.

 

[CAptain]

5 years in hell and then riches and happiness afterwards doesn’t sound like a good deal to me. That time in prison CAN be a learning experience but at what cost? I mean, what if I lose an eye? Get stabbed in the ear? Surprise buttsex? :O I’m pretty sure that some of the inmates won’t be happy to know that I’ll be living a life of luxury in 5 short years so they’ll probably do their best to make my life miserable.

Now lets say that I get out of prison in one piece and I start living the happy life of a rich man. Even then, there’s a good chance that I won’t have that protection money has to offer. There will always be that danger of falling in love with money and what it can purchase. Wealth might generate in me an appetite that is never satisfied. What if money becomes the object of my affection? I might become susceptible to all sorts of moral temptations, including lying, theft, treachery. What about acquaintances and friends? I’ll probably be suspicious of their motives. Are they after my money or do they genuinely care and want to be my friend? I’ll live happy (to a degree) and protected from the World but how will I protect myself from…myself? Maybe that ^^ will generate a false sense of happiness? Who knows.

But my main reason for not accepting the first option is because I don’t want to be denied appreciation for the value of work, a sense of self-worth, and the ability to feel rich on the inside. Imagine this: 2 boys, one boy is rich while the other is poor. The wealthy boy can have anything his heart desires but imagine he (for whatever reason) looses everything when he’s an adult, how will he cope with life’s disappointments when everything was handed to him as a kid and he probably didn‘t value anything he had. The poor boy will in my opinion stand a better chance of dealing with what ever life throws at him because he probably learned appreciation, resilience, and other good qualities that will set him up to kick this World’s ass. Point is, the most valuable things in life cannot be obtained with money.

Just my thought. =)

 

[GracieRuth]

I don't get it. If all your needs are met, how can you say you are poor?

The richest man is not the one who has the most, but who needs the least.

 

[Air]

It depends on how much the riches are.

 

[InvisibleJim]

 

[Peppermint]

I just tied the poll

No imprisonment.

I suppose I should elaborate.

I'm already poor. Granted I'm not struggling with bare existence, but I don't have many commodities the middle class takes for granted, so that absolves the feeling of loss. Not that I would not enjoy the luxury, but it's not something that has ever attracted me and I know that I don't need it. Having a utilitarian mindset comes easy to me.

On the other hand, 5 years is a long time, I don't need or want to suffer the abuse, I adapt very poorly to hierarchical environments and I need the ability to move. I really need it. The knowledge that I have the freedom of just being out there in the world, is crucial to my life philosophy and well being.


So, the bottom line is that benefit-damage ratio of the prison scenario doesn't do it for me.

 

[Faye]

I am having trouble answering the question because I feel like there are important aspects of happiness tied to wealth that we cannot separate out.

 

[subwayrider]

For a year, I lived with a bunch of guys who are probably in prison now. It was not a good experience for me. I felt completely alienated and unable to relate to their lives and values. This wasn't even in a prison setting, and it was still completely demoralizing. I'd have to think this one over a pretty long time.

 

[Julfire]

Prison for the experience, opting for it to make me a better person, for me and others who i could give my help to, to better understand, riches for the freedom, though I do agree that poverty can make a person very wise and an ascent in their own life. <3

 

[invisible]

i already went through experiences that meant hell to me and got nothing, i can do it again for happiness and money. just as long as my big butch prison boyfriend tosses me a cigarette occasionally. maybe i could even learn to love him.

 

[invisible]

for some reason to me the idea of poverty is intolerable, i can't stand it! i don't want to go through that!

 

[sweaverit]

I chose to to be poor. Prison would change me, probably break me. I'd be cold, hard, and useless to the world.

 

[Roger]

IF you look at our life, actually this all is illusion and imprisonment,too. Nothing guaranteed and we all build so many walls around us. What is the difference living in jail or living in this world where we have restricted ourselves a lot. Many things can be counted in this topic.

By the way i have chosen option 1.

 

[This]

The set up doesn't work, life is not a zero-sum game. Poverty has the variable of change, prison has less so.