How do we define rich and poor? Is it based on amount of money? If so what is the line? I know a lot of people with lots of money that are not happy. Should rich be measured by happiness? Or is it lack of worry? Are there other things to have that make one rich?
All based on perspective.
For the fiscal definition:
I live completely debt free in my fantastic five bedroom home with an elaborate movie theater 205" screen, supported by dozens of amps and speakers in the largest 24'x32' room in the basement. My savings are healthy so I (in theory) could live (At my current conservative means) without working for many years but I do not consider myself rich. My rusty car has 240,000+ miles and (to extend cloth life and save fuel) I line dry my clothes and practice a long list of saving (by not spending) coupons etc. I almost never eat out and have never had cable TV. These are not the practices of a "Rich" person. I'm not even middle class.
Middle class defined as "the social group between the upper and working classes, including professional and business workers and their families, would also not fall into the "Rich"category.
As a teacher/computer tech, I am down in the ranks of working class.
I know several people who are worth millions of dollars. Most of them do not consider themselves rich but accurately identify themselves as "middle class"
Money "Rich" by my definition is one who does not need to work and has the ability to travel and purchase at his/her own discretion, also one who lives in a state of luxury far above the masses.
Rich = lack of worry? Perhaps in some cases. However, to very roughly quote Darby 'OGill and the little people (Great 1959 Disney movie) "Who is happiest in the village? The village idiot." Is lack of worry necessary for happiness? Think there may be a positive correlation. I don't consider the idiot rich.
I find many of my most rewarding (rich) experiences are when I gain/teach an understanding of a concept or modify/build/create complex systems that correctly function, or feedback while performing in a theatrical production, or musical event; moving the emotions of a crowd with music/drama is rich. Experiencing the beauty of nature - landscape, storms, etc. is also rich.
I think of rich as havign enough money to live comfortably without having to work. Usually because investments or interest creates an income that is higher than expenses.
Poor is having to work more than one full tiem job in order to make ends meet.
Those who fall into the middle are "middl class.".
No one category is strictly definitive though. It is a continuum, that is not strictly or definitively demarcated.
You're mixing a lot of metaphors and labels here.
Poverty is relative but is generally defined as "not being able to get your basic human needs met with the result being chronic despair". The "poverty line" varies by cost of living in different parts of the world.
Happiness of course is a separate matter (as is its more useful cousin, contentment). One's ability to be happy while starving is not a justification of starvation conditions. One's ability to be unhappy while rich is not a justification of starvation conditions either. Separate issues.
As to "lack of worry" that is probably the point at which basic needs are met, given that one of the basic human needs is a sense of stability and safety. It's pointless to have your basic needs met if you live in constant fear of slipping back into poverty.
Once you have your needs met and a decent buffer against the vicissitudes of life, then more money generally doesn't increase contentment or self-reported happiness, and may even decrease it in ways.
I agree with all but the last section of your "more money generally doesn't increase contentment or self-reported happiness, and may even decrease it in ways."
I can not imagine how having millions in the bank, (a healthy fiscal buffer to prevent poverty) could decrease my happiness.
If I had those resources, I would buy a new car, upgrade my projector, and replace the 45 windows and reside my house. That would be about it. - - and live with the comfort that the requirement of working an average of fifty hours a week was no longer necessary.
@NoMagicCookie Having a decent car and proper home maintenance would "be about it", you're right. That's the point of having basic needs met. Beyond that there's not more lift. And there are temptations. That's where the term "he has more money than sense" comes from.
The whole issue of leisure is an interesting one to explore, although arguably beyond the scope of this particular discussion. Suffice it to say that the conservative notion that without the need to work everyone becomes indolent and lazy, is mistaken. What they actually tend to do is pursue their true passions and donate time and expertise to worthy causes. That's why a basic minimum income makes sense -- it moves everyone closer to having their basic needs met and it frees people from the tyranny of work so that they don't have to put up with ill treatment by an employer out of fear of not finding other work or losing their health insurance. It leaves people free to work by true choice, to have a higher than basic standard of living.
Per predictions in the last quarter of the 20th century, by now we were supposed to realize so much increased productivity that we'd all e working half time for twice the money we earned back then. And in fact, that could have been possible if the elites hadn't soaked up all the fruits of that geometrically increased productivity, and hadn't feared the the "little people" like us would realize we didn't need the plutocrats to survive.