"Sadness makes you spend more - An examination of consumer behavior reveals an unconscious link between happiness and frugality. The lesson? A miserable customer is a profitable customer." ~ Researchers from Harvard University
ECONOMICS
Economics is the study of how people satisfy their needs. There are several labels used to describe economic systems. Totalitarianism, Centralized Fractional Reserve Banking, Socialism, Communism, Fascism, National Socialism, Democracy, Interventionism, Individualism, Republicanism, Classical Liberalism Libertarianism... and the list goes on. But these are only descriptive labels and economics should not be used to judge them but to describe them. I order to judge these economic systems it is necessary first to set a purpose.
As good or bad is only defined in relation to a goal, good is that which advances you towards your goal and bad is that which does not, economics does not say what is better or worse, it only analyzes (describes) the situation but provides no judgment. For people to understand how to use economics we should first know what is our collective goal for then we would be able to evaluate if some actions would help us advance toward it or not. Economics is a tool. It is a medium to reach a goal.
HAPPINESS
Happiness is a tricky feeling. Nowadays happiness has been hugely associated with consuming. Because of the advertisement signals, we are all conditioned to link happiness to situations of material possession and/or pleasure, which is consumption. But this cult to the consumption mislead us. Consuming provides an brief moment of satisfaction, satisfying the desire. But it does not solve the underlying cause of the desire.
In most cases (there are some exceptions) surviving is the rational ultimate goal for all living beings, as if a living being does not survive, other goals will have been unachieved. In general consumption makes us survive but in a dependent way as we don't know how this product* became available to us and whether it will be in the future. In the contrary, production makes us survive in a sustainable way as we understand how the product* became available. Production proves us that we are in control of our life, that if we would need* something we are able to make it ourselves alone through learning and will. Through production we provide ourselves and others with one of the necessary things* we will all need (for survival) at some point. Producing makes us feel useful and cheered, it provides individuals a sense of self-esteem and pride that makes them happy, and not just temporarily satisfied. In todays centralized life around a city, people has become oriented towards consuming and not producing, giving a similar feeling to childhood, when we receive things* without knowing how to get them if we were alone.
So happiness is a state we get when we feel we can perpetuate our life, without losses. When we think there is a loss, we feel hurt and that makes us angry. Once we are angry we might become aggressive being resented or become depressed if we feel powerless. Nothing is lost, all transforms itself. In a nutshell: Because surviving is your ultimate goal, all other goals you set to yourself should be a medium to this goal. Happiness is the measure of one's success in the service of life. Contributing to our own and others' survival means making an effort to provide goods* we will need in the future: producing. You can choose plenty of things that satisfy the needs* of people.
*I refer to product/needs/necessary things as not only compulsory goods, but also convenient goods.
WAR
As Sun Tzu said "The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected." War is a continuous process that is always, regardless of battle fighting or not, active. War is making your enemy vulnerable and making you invincible. Through history some people has always wanted to make war. Resentment, jealousy or superiority are some of the reasons which might push someone to war but the underlying cause is always the desire for eternity or unlimited powers. Behind belligerent religions, royal armies and all government armies there is always some people at the top of the hierarchy which intend to extend their power in time and space through war. Very rich people doesn't mind about more money, their goal is to lock their power and expand it as much as they can to see how far their power can go.
War is not evident to see when the causers' identity is hidden. The causers of war are the leaders of the organized people who attempts to expand their power and they, these war causers are most of the time the ones who benefit the most from war. We can figure out with some reasoning: if we want to SEE between who and who the war is being fought, we must see WHO are the ones who most benefit from it, the ones who promote it and which means are they using make their enemy vulnerable.
Nowadays the most recognized mind-shapers are the TV, Newspapers (physical and on line version), Movies, International Organizations, Academic Research, Foundations which advise and finance conferences... among many others these are the mainstream mind-shaping media that are used to influence people. These media are full of advertisements which mislead people associating happiness (and even sexuality) with consumption. Movies are full of violent content, sexual content and addiction (alcohol and cigarettes, gambling, drugs, and all the things that do not further one's survival) reminders that get us used to think instinctively and impulsively, which help advertisement do their effect. The news industry, International Organizations and Academic Research often promote bureaucratic free-trade and immigration and war. Bureaucratic free-trade allows only big companies that can afford legal paperwork to off-shoring production and lower costs. Immigration increases consumer prices (more demand) while lowering wages as more labor is available. Both policies, as well as war (because military supplies is a very differentiated industry that give a lot of benefits), are aimed to increase the capital income portion (total corporation income= capital income + labor income) of the corporations (Capital income = Consumer price - Labor cost per unit).
In effect corporations are the first ones who benefit from higher consumption as absolute benefits. Most corporations expand themselves through debt. Taking huge debts, big corporations are able to lower costs much more than their competitors and benefit from cheaper goods in the present than having to save. Centralized fractional reserve banking is allowing corporations and the state (that are the two main debtors) to enjoy the work of all others thank to the money they get through loans. But both corporations and the state are entities that are having a bad influence on the people by engineering plans to make the people impulsive consumers. Under this Republican democracy state is just as tied as any other entity as the politicians are financed and cherished in the media only when they comply with corporations' rule.
The very causer of all this mess seems to be the financial system which allows corporations to use money they don't have and the state which only seeks to perpetuate its own power. The monetary and financial system is a system that allows HUGE concentrations of power: it allows the bankers to get goods they don't have to accumulate interest on money that was not earned but created. They were the ones who created the S.A. structure which means anonymous society (from French Société Anonyme) and they created too all the loopholes in order to don't pay taxes as creating Foundations, Holding companies and other anonymously owned companies that own lots of assets and have a great influence by spending this money on promoting the goal of perpetuating their power and the established system that provides them with it at cost of the rest of the people's power. In a nutshell: they make themselves invincible while searching and exploiting our vulnerabilities, which is the desire for happiness and satisfaction.