Materialism is the best way to pursue happiness

Before I start my rebuttal, I would like to state that almost everything my opponent has stated is true to an extent. The main points my rebuttal will highlight the alternative to materialism. The resolution states "Materialism is the best way to pursue happiness". I would like to add that just because a philosophy might have its problems does not mean that it isn't the best way to pursue happiness. There are other philosophies that the individuals my opponent listed could have tried out, and failed to receive any happiness. I would first like to add evidence of countries that are spiritually inclined, and believe that spiritualism is the best way to achieve happiness. There are 151 countries analyzed in this research 1. Brazil=21th happiest country in the world. 2. Peru-24th happiest country in the world. 3. Kenya-98th happiest country in the world. 4. Iraq-36th happiest country in the world. 5. Romania-75th happiest country in the world. 6. Macedonia- 140th happiest country in the world. 7. Fiji-Unkown 8. Armenia- 121st happiest country in the world. 9. Nigeria- 103rd happiest country in the world. 10. Ghana-Unknown ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, I will give the top ten materialistic countries, and their happiness. 1. Denmark- 1st happiest country. 2. Switzerland-2nd happiest country. 3. Iceland- 3rd happiest country 4. Norway. 4th happiest country. 5. Finland- 5th happiest country. 6. Canada- 6th happiest country. 7. Netherlands-8th happiest country. 8. Sweden- 10th happiest country. 9. United States- 13th happiest country. 10. Germany- 16th happiest country. One can judge the evidence here, and clearly see that materialistic countries outperform spiritual countries. Now, I will rebut the arguments my opponent made. Rebuttal: " Relationships and Children " I have a simple answer to this argument. Don't get married if your not ready yet. What philosophy does my opponent bring to counter materialism? My opponent claims that divorce is usually a result of a strong love for money. Well, maybe those people should not be getting married. This whole argument is not an attack on materialism, but an attack on those people so foolish as to think there love of money and selfish interests is compatible with raising a family, Any person would know that in order to create a successful family environment; one must take time out of their selfish pursuits, and think about the others in their family. ------------------------------------------------------ "Materialism also affects the moods and possibly the grades of children. " First of all, the study you mentioned noted that teens that were more materialistic earned the most money. I would view this as a positive. Now, you go on to claim that materialism affects the child's ability to acquire a good grade. Now, in order of this claim to be valid, my opponent must explain the link between materialism and a child's ability to make good grades. Couldn't the link be that the child just was not gifted in academics? Couldn't it be that the parents were not around for that child to acquire a good upbringing? This claim is too broad for it to be valid. There will always be kids that make bad grades, and it does not matter which philosophy they embrace. Statistics prove that the most spiritual countries in the world have the lowest scores in education. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Stress and it's effects on Materialistic individuals" My opponent claims that materialistic people buy more than their less materialistic peers. What is the net harm in buying more materials in order to comfort yourself? My opponent failed to explain this claim which makes this claim null. Did my opponent ever state another philosophy? My opponent can degrade materialism all she wants, but the fact of the matter is that if my opponent cannot produce another philosophy whose benefits outweigh materialism, than all of these claims should be considered null. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "There are many negative side effects of stress" My opponent provides many effects of materialism. I would respectfully ask that my opponent cite the specific source for this research, because I doubt all of these effects. The researcher could very well have biases towards materialism. How does the researcher classify materialism. A good example of why I doubt all of this research is this effect: "Eating more or less"-What is the common ground when it comes to eating. Did the researcher judge everyone who embraces materialism? "Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax" My opponent would need to explain how this harms an individual. Therefore, it is an invalid attack. I believe that this world is our last world. Drugs are proven to release dopamine which causes an individual to be happy. Why is this a problem? Countries that had drugs legal ranked higher than countries that had drugs illegal. "Nervous habits (e. g. nail biting, pacing) Aches and pains" These two claims are just absurd. Everyone who embraces the materialistic philosophy does this. It is a legitimate claim to make that almost all people on the Forbes list(Billionaires) have lived their lives accordingly to materialistic values. Do you really thing they have nervous habits? Also, how do you know all materialistic people have Aches and pains? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Based on these, materialistic people are at a risk of sorts if a traumatic event were to occur to them. Narcissism and It's Relations to Materialism Again, my opponent fails to explain why narcissism is a bad thing. My opponent does not explain how narcissism makes a person depressed. Donald Trump looks like he is the most arrogant person alive, and looks like he has had a pretty thrilling life. One can find that the majority of my opponent's claims really stereotype materialistic people as a whole. Breakdown of all arguments: -My opponent fails to mention any other philosophies that are more effective at achieving happiness. -My opponent's studies have proven to be false, or highly circumstantial. -My opponent fails to explain why some of the values materialistic people hold are harmful in order to achieve happiness. I will give you a list of people that are materialistic. Bill Gates Steve Jobs Carlos Slim Helu Larry Oracle Charles Koch David Koch John D. Rockefeller Andrew Carnegie All of these people have achieved great things, because of their pursuits of material interests. These people did not have any problem with academics. We also cannot live without their innovations. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I want to offer my opponent these questions. -Why is it that the most materialistic countries are the most happy? -Why is it that usually more spiritual countries are more impoverished? -Why is it that our American society is more inclined to materialism, and not spiritualism? -Why is it that more than 80% of the richest people in the world are not inclined to spiritual values? -What benefits does spiritualism have that outweigh materialism? -Why is it that the average individual is able to click with materialism more than spiritualism in the western world? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Concluding statements: My opponent cannot deny that throughout human history; we have proven to be very ambitious people. It is in our DNA to want more, and crave more. When a human acquires what they wanted; it is scientifically proven that domain in the brain is released causing positive feelings to arrive. It makes sense that the countries that were built off of a materialistic foundation are more happier than the spiritual countries that base their governments off of spiritual values. America, Britain, Denmark, Norway, and Switzerland all receive benefits that the people in spiritual countries will never receive. I ask my opponent this final question. Would you rather live in a spiritual country like Ghana, or live in a western country with advanced technology that the people in Ghana cannot even comprehend? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sources: . http://www.happyplanetindex.org... . http://www.happyplanetindex.org... . http://www.happyplanetindex.org... . http://www.happyplanetindex.org... . http://www.happyplanetindex.org... . http://www.happyplanetindex.org... . https://www.armradio.am... . http://www.thecountriesof.com...