Is Wealth the American Dream?In this TED Talk, an age old question is asked; Can money buy happiness? The speaker, Michael Norton, is a social sciences researcher and professor of business administration at Harvard University. Norton conducted multiple studies in his quest to find an answer. Starting in Vancouver, he gave money to different people and asked some to spend it on themselves while he asked some to spend it on others. At the end of the day, the people who spent the money on others reported that they were happier than those who spent the money on themselves. Norton conducted similar studies in other countries and the results were unanimous; people are happier when they spend money on others. This is because when you spend your money on others peoples' wants and needs, you are doing something different. On the contrary, spending your own money on yourself is a normal activity therefore it does not change your happiness level. We see money and wealth as a reoccurring theme in F.Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby throws these huge, lavish parties completely for the enjoyment of others. So this begs the question, is Gatsby truly happy? The answer should be yes. He is essentially giving his money to others so he should be happy, right? However, we see that Gatsby is missing the one piece that needs to achieve true happiness; the returned love from Daisy. Should Gatsby had received this love from Daisy (before his untimely demise) in combination with his generous charity, I think we would of saw him be sincerely happy.
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"– they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made" (Fitzgerald 179).