Materialism is the best way to pursue happiness

Here's my defense against my opponent's arguments.Yes, the resolution of the debate is that materialism is the best way to pursue happiness, but it never said anywhere that I had to offer up a better philosophy. Proof? Let's look at my opponent's first round where he laid the framework of the debate, skipping past the definitions and structure:"I will be arguing that materialism is the best way to achieve happiness. My opponent will argue that there are more negative effects of materialism than there are benefits." There was no mention of making better philosophies than materialism, just that I had to argue that there are more cons than pros to materialism. If you saw my opening statements, then yes, my part of the debate was fulfilled. My opponent goes on to list countries compared through the means of spiritualism and materialism. Did my opponent provide a source? No, he didn't. While this can be thrown out as a bare assertion, I'll show the falsehood in this anyway.Brazil - Yes, Brazil is a very spiritual country with just 1% of people not believing in any God or religion, [1] but according to statistics, Brazil is ranked as one of the three most materialistic countries in the world behind China and India. [2] This is more materialistic than all ten of the materialistic countries listed. Fiji and Ghana - Why put these countries on here if there is no measure of their happiness according to this invisible source?Next, my opponent goes on to list "the most materialistic countries". In fact, these aren't the most materialistic countries. I can't confirm the accuracy of the source, (sense there is none) so I provided my own statistics. "Those most likely to agree they feel under a lot of pressure to be successful and make money are from China (68%), South Africa (66%), Russia (66%), India (60%), Turkey (53%) and South Korea (52%) Ã¢â‚¬" the emerging economies...."Similarly, those from China (71%), India (58%), Turkey (57%), Brazil (48%) and South Korea (45%) are most likely to measure their success by what they own while those from Sweden (7%), Spain (15%), Great Britain (16%), Canada (20%), the United States (21%) and Italy (22%) are least likely to do so." [3]Though it doesn't show the exact order of materialistic countries like my opponent's list, we can infer that the list goes something like this, in no specific order: ChinaSouth AfricaRussiaIndiaTurkeySouth KoreaSwedenSpainGreat BritainCanadaUnited StatesOf those, only three that were on my opponent's list are on my list. Anyway, let's just assume that the list my opponent provides is absolutely true, no questions asked. Many factors can go into the happiness of citizens in the countries we listed, like economic burden, traumatic events, the sample group selected, etc. We can't just assume that the supposed level of materialism in each country is the end all be all of happiness.Defense: "Relationships and Children"The only rebuttal my opponent really makes is that if you're not ready, you shouldn't get married. But what if they don't realize their materialistic ways or their selfishness? What happens then? And this is a broad statement. It still happens regardless and will continue to happen.Defense: "Materialism also affects the moods and possibly grades of children"My opponent references that a study I cited said "noted that teens that were more materialistic earned the most money. I would view this as a positive." But why is this positive? Materialism in teens is positive because they earn more money? My opponent doesn't explain this.Defense: "Stress and it's effects on Materialistic individuals"I said in my opening statements that your reliance on material can negatively effect the way you perceive traumatic events. It isn't the actual objects that make you materialistic, it's the dependency on them that make your materialistic.Defense: "There are many negative side effects of stress"These are the side effects of stress, not materialism per se. These side effects were to express how harmful stress can be. My opponent misquoted me by saying that they were the side effects of materialism. My opponent asked for a citation, when I, in fact, gave a citation. It's the fifth citation in my opening statements. For proof, here's the citation. [4] Compare it to the fifth citation in my opening statements and you'll see that they're the same citation. This part of the rebuttal can be thrown out because of the misquoting used by my opponent. Defense: Narcissism and It's Relations to MaterialismOnce again my opponent misinterprets the information I provided. He says this:"My opponent does not explain how narcissism makes a person depressed." My argument wasn't about the effects narcissism has on depression, but narcissism and it's connection to materialism. The fact is that narcissism has links to materialism, like I explained in my opening statements. As for explaining why narcissism is a bad thing, you can look at the definition alone and see the downsides of narcissism. Narcissism - extreme selfishness, with a grandiose view of one's own talents and a craving for admiration, as characterizing a personality type. [5]But to elaborate on this further, let's look at this:"Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a disorder that is characterized by a long-standing pattern of grandiosity (either in fantasy or actual behavior), an overwhelming need for admiration, and usually a complete lack of empathy toward others. People with this disorder often believe they are of primary importance in everybody’s life or to anyone they meet." [6]"People with narcissistic personality disorder often display snobbish, disdainful, or patronizing attitudes. For example, an individual with this disorder may complain about a clumsy waiter’s “rudeness” or “stupidity” or conclude a medical evaluation with a condescending evaluation of the physician." [6] According to the same source, like I confirmed in my opening statements, narcissism is a serious mental illness. People with the disorder tend to be abrasive, snobbish, and above everyone else. (At least in their one mindset.) Is this a healthy way to act?The EndI'd like to say thank you to my opponent for an interesting, thought-provoking debate. Citations[1]http://www.studycountry.com...[2]http://qz.com...[3]http://www.ipsos-na.com...[4]http://www.helpguide.org...[5]https://www.google.com...[6]http://psychcentral.com...