My mother always told me that if I earn something without working hard, it is not worthy. I felt good when I found money on the ground or got something for free. I wasn’t sure what my mother was talking about until I took Sociology.
In the last unit, we talked about different social classes that exist in our society. There are capitalists, who make big decisions for our country. Also, there is the underclass that gets money from social security, or welfare. There are four more classes between these two classes. When people move up to the next social class without putting their effort, they will fail later on.
Sometimes an article has a story about a person who won millions of dollars in lottery. I see them in the newspaper or on TV. I was very jealous of them because I thought they would be rich for the rest of their lives, and that they would be able to buy everything they want. However, I never read a single piece of news that said that they are happy in their lives or they became successful in their lives. I always wondered about this question. Aren’t they supposed to be happy because they got money that they never expected?
From sociology class I could answer to my question and understand what my mother was talking about. The answer was no. The most common consequence of hitting a big lottery is that life becomes topsy-turvy. When the person was living in poor class, they don’t know how to handle millions of dollars. They were used to living with few hundred dollars a month. Long forgotten friends and distant relatives suddenly remember them and ask them for money. People just use them as a tool. Also, some lottery winners separate from their marriage. They no long trust people even in their family.
From the article news, I understand the materials that I learned in class. The resulting status inconsistency can lead to worse condition. People who left their jobs, friends, and family after they won lottery, they are most likely to become poorer in several years. However, people who don’t make sudden changes into their lifestyle or their behavior, they are people who will succeed in their lives. Moving up the social ladder without putting their effort, it is not worthy.
I share this same view that people are not always happy after winning millions of dollars. There is a show on cable network TLC that shares where big lottery winners are now. They discuss how friends and family suddenly remembered who they were again and acted friendly in hopes of getting some money. The winners have also had to manage not spending all of the money at once and save some for the future, which was more of a challenge for some more than others. In short, money does not always bring happiness and those who work hard feel more deserving of what of they have.
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