Can money actually buy you happiness?
- Julia Sut
- Oct 30, 2022
- 3 min read
Can money actually buy you happiness? Many people will straight up answer yes, but is it the kind of happiness that will keep you satisfied and joyful forever? Or is it all temporary and limited? Personally, I have heard the phrase - 'Money cannot buy you happiness' a lot of times, and today I am going to look if it is actually true or if other people are in the wrong.
As I have mentioned before, I am going to assume that money cannot buy you happiness. I have read an article that wrote that while being miserable and living in poverty makes one think that if they would have money, they would be happy and content for the rest of their lives, but in reality, once the basic needs are covered, the extra money does not translate itself into higher satisfaction or happiness. A great example of this are lottery winners that were not the most affluent people before. Immediately after one of them wins the lottery, they are ecstatic and living their best life. Still, if we imagine that person one year later, they are usually depressed and living in some crappy apartment with beer everywhere. The high of the money does not last. And why is it that way? Aren't people taught to think that money will make us happier? So why doesn't it at some point?
One of the reasons has to do with expectations and predictions of what one would do if one had that sum of money. People think that once they get a deposit of 100k, their lives will change tremendously, but that is not true. You will still be the same person, in the same body, with additional money in your account. Our expectations escalate, and it is not easy to turn them back around. I think a great example is when we imagine one having an iPhone 8, and they are so happy and careful with the phone, but then notice that one of their friends has an iPhone 12, and suddenly that feeling of happiness and excitement is not as big anymore. Moreover, if the same person finally got the iPhone they thought would make them so much happier, they once again see a newer model coming out, and they are not satisfied and happy once again - it is a never-ending cycle. People crave what they cannot have, but once they achieve it, it does not feel as good.
Is there actually a product that will make people happy forever? For example, when we search “Finest houses” on YouTube, there will be millions of videos popping up, and every single one has a different definition of the finest. A person could be living in the best house in their neighborhood, yet someone on YouTube, that does not even know them, might make them unhappy and unsatisfied, because they will see that someone has a different, ‘better’ house. The same is with styles that are popular, that change so fast, too. It makes people go into the spiral of thinking the things they own are not good enough, even though they had been bought a few months ago. It is the same thing with everything one can think of, handbags, makeup, fridges, and cars. The things I have mentioned are just some examples.
Even a basic thing like water, which is a human right can cost up to $1000, just because of the packaging, and it exists solely to keep people unhappy, even though it is the same exact water you could get for $1.
Those examples illustrate how much the saying that ‘money can buy happiness' after you have taken care of basic needs is just a physiological game and manipulation that is meant to lead people to spend more and more and feel like they could always be better or have more, even when you do not need that whatsoever. I am not saying that it is a wrong thing because to some people it might be inspirational and motivational, but in most cases, people do not need newer things, because eventually, it leads to overconsumption. Moreover, sometimes that might be dangerous, because people will be craving the satisfaction so bad that they will be willing to give up time with their family and friends, and their hobbies just to stay at work to make more money to get a newer car. There is only so much money that can buy. There is no end to the escalation, and people cannot find long-term happiness and satisfaction in materialistic things or social status. It is all temporary.
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