What We Want That Money Can't Buy - Big Big Forums

Jolie Rouge · 04-27-2003, 01:25 AM

Although a whopping 84 percent of the adults polled by Family Circle magazine said they think Americans worship money, when asked to name what was most important to them personally, these were the overwhelming responses in order:

--Family and friends

--Good health

--Money

It's not surprising that in these uncertain times, we would look inward to hearth and home and yearn for the things that really do matter most. "I think the economy and tensions in the world have put people's values in a more idealistic place than a materialistic place," Susan Ungaro, editor of Family Circle magazine, told The Associated Press when announcing the survey results. While she admits most of us do think it's important to own a home--and that takes big bucks--we're also putting a premium on saving money and becoming free of debt. "But the truth is, people really care about the things that money can't buy," she said.

Betsy Taylor, founder and president of the Center for a New American Dream in Takoma Park, Md., told AP that what started as materialism after World War II turned into a full-blown case of luxury fever in the 1980s and 1990s. The Center for a New American Dream asked people what it was they wanted that money couldn't buy.

Here are some of the answers posted on the group's Web site:

--Happiness

--Freedom

--Love

--Peace, tranquility, and economic and social justice for all

--Clean water, fresh air, and an unobstructed horizon

--Time to do the things we really want to do: Prayer, family, reading, needlework, gardening, and all the things that make life joyful

--Rekindle a long-lost friendship

--A world where children can grow up feeling safe

--The courage to say what I feel and what needs to be said

--Peace of mind

--To be surrounded by family and friends