The contradiction of "living a poor life and enjoying happiness"? How can the poor be happy?

In real life, it is not easy for people to distinguish between helpless poverty and happy poverty, and it is inevitable to treat all poverty as one thing. The behavior of the rich-of course, the behavior of a few rich people-is disgusted in today's society for three reasons: first, the infatuation with money, second, boredom, and third, arrogance. There are many theories about why these rich people are like this. One of the influential theories is that there is no religious tradition in China, but actually there is no Christian tradition. I am not a religious person myself, and I have a grudge against the evil deeds of Catholicism in the Middle Ages. However, with the increase of experience and reading, I think the criticism of religion in the past is somewhat simplified. Religion actually has many functions. Christians form social circles, and the church provides public services without compulsory taxation. It is an exaggeration to say that the soul is taken care of by God, but the influence of church culture on everyone begins from childhood. Doctrines such as the Ten Commandments will not change human nature, but let people know that there is a god within three feet, for fear of offending dogma. Some thinkers say that Christianity makes people accumulate wealth, but it makes people control their desires, which is an important reason for the rise of modern industrial revolution in the West. This statement is also somewhat exaggerated, but it is not unreasonable. Thinkers in China also advocate abstinence, spreading the word "live a poor life and enjoy happiness", which has the function of cultivating temperament. However, if I take the risk of making a comparison between China and the West, I feel that China's spirit of poverty and happiness seems to be inferior to that of westerners. Buddhism in China was born, and it rarely interfered with people's secular life. Mediocre people use Buddhism mostly for utilitarian purposes, and social elites are more willing to think philosophically about Buddhism. Simply put, China lacks religious support. In fact, advocating poverty and happiness is only the correction of human culture to people's fanatical pursuit of wealth. It is human nature to pursue the abundance of life. This is determined by the evolutionary history of mankind. It can be assumed that there was a gene in early human beings that hated wealth and was indifferent to poverty, and this gene will also be produced in the process of later racial changes. However, in the competition for survival, it is not easy for people with this gene to inherit themselves, and those genes that are competitive and pursue wealth have more opportunities to copy themselves. In the long run, the main residents of human society are wealth-oriented. In this basic respect, there is no essential difference between Chinese and western cultures. In the process of pursuing wealth, it is inevitable that some people are bold and cautious and fall into the deadlock of negative sum game. The way to eliminate this deadlock is cooperation between people, but cooperation needs authority, and in the long historical process, authority depends on violence. Scholars like to divide human history into different stages, but I think there are actually two historical stages in the past, one is 3 million years, which is called military and social stages; One is 300 years, called the stage of democratic society. The latter stage has not been completed as a whole. In the military era, it is hypocritical to comfort people to be poor and happy. At that time, people were generally poor, and poverty was not because of happiness, but because of helplessness. It is often the rich who talk about happiness and poverty, or the rich who want to change their lifestyles. In fact, people have seen the mystery clearly, but they are still willing to advocate peace and happiness. Why is this? When you think about it carefully, the poverty of some people provides a sense of security for others, who can benefit from the promotion of poverty and happiness. Naturally, the rich with a sense of security cannot have real respect for the poor. But there are always exceptions. Most people will not be poor because of happiness, but a few people still have happiness. The latter needs careful screening. They can become rich, but they choose to live in poverty. These people's attitude towards life is what people talk about. In the jargon of economics, these people's consumption preferences or utility functions are significantly different from others. They are poor because of happiness, and when people know this, they will be respected. Historically, because of the literati's account, the allusions of joy and sorrow are widely known, but in real life, it is not easy for people to distinguish between helpless poverty and joy and sorrow, and it is inevitable to treat all poverty as one thing. People who live a happy and poor life, if they need respect from others, may tell others their life ideas, and the result will be considered as a false poor lifestyle. Since he who sees through the world of mortals, why pour out his heart? Just like someone criticized Cao Xueqin, since he was enlightened, why did he write that dream of red mansions? Therefore, advocating peace and happiness is often thankless. Although people are disgusted with the bad habits of some rich people, they still yearn for the rich and their wealth on the whole. The so-called hatred of the rich is not the common psychology of China people, nor is it the common psychology of people all over the world. In order to help some rich people gradually overcome the bad behavior of being addicted to money and being bored and arrogant, it is really necessary for social elites and ideological manipulators to deliberately create positive values. It is more meaningful to make this effort fruitful and advocate universal respect for human rights than to advocate poverty reduction and happiness. Rich people can spend money at will, but only if they don't infringe on the rights of others, including people's right to environmental protection. Ordinary people can choose a poor lifestyle, but society can't deprive them of their right to development, and they can't be "penniless". As long as equality of rights is basically guaranteed, people will truly respect the poor.