Honestly, that’s one of the dumbest sayings ever. It’s simply not true.
Money buys every item you need on your hierarchy of needs: food, shelter, safety, it increases your chances at a relationship, helps you realise your goals, etc. etc. And the more money you have, the better your needs will be met. Nicer house, better neighbourhood, healthier foods, more leisure time…
And that’s not even talking about the actual fun things it buys: LEGO sets, jet skis, a Ferrari, a gold Rolex. They might be material, but I’ve never seen someone depressed on a jet ski.
Money might not buy happiness but it DOES get rid of 99% of the things that cause unhappiness, like a lack of food, water, shelter and healthcare.
No money sure as hell buys you unhappiness.
Money can absolutely buy happiness. This is a lie the ruling class tells the peasants.
Boomers are cancer.
There’s an old article on cracked.com that took that concept and shits all of it.
Money CAN buy happiness! Holy shit. If you are poor and have no money at all, what you can do is very limited. I know this. I am far from wealthy, but I am in a decent financial position in my life right now, and the security it is providing me is a lot of comfort.
I remember for many years when I was scrimping for every quarter for laundry and having nothing. I didn’t go out and do anything period. I didn’t date, meet up with people, or even go out much period save for walks. It sucked. I was reliant on a lot of financial help from relatives, without which I would have been destitute. Once I did get a job that paid something, I spent a fuckload of time just saving up a nest egg (which isn’t a lot, but more than what most people have) as a safety measure, but even then I had to scrimp and save. The negative effect is that I feel that many, many years of my life have passed me by without me ever truly experiencing it the way I wanted it when I wanted it.
I wonder how many of those ‘poor but happy’ people would feel if their car was destroyed and they cannot afford another one or to repair it. Or if they have a medical emergency that forces them out of their current job and now have no income? It is really fucking tough and very delusional.
But wait, you might ask, what about those miserable rich people? Do you remember those middle class depressed goth and emo teens in the mid-late 2000s who often committed suicide or just ranted on about how life was highly unfair and the worst life ever? Or maybe older people driving fancy cars and wearing 10,000$ suits and somehow STILL end up railing on about how life sucks before either ODing on drugs/alcohol or putting a bullet through their own heads?
Well to quote Helen Gurley Brown as quoted in Civilization 6: Money, if it does not bring you happiness, will at least help you be miserable in comfort.
“Money can buy material things, but real happiness must be truly earned.” Often attributed to that well known boomer Rousseau (1712-78)
Money can’t buy happiness, but I’d rather cry in a house than cry on the streets.
Here’s mine and you can quote me on it:
“Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure is easier to search for happiness when you don’t have to worry about the money.”
I always looked at it as “money buys happiness with diminishing returns”. Having enough money usually leads to a good deal of happiness over no money, but all the money doesn’t usually lead to all the happiness.
But yours is very accurate, too. While I am not sure how the hierarchy of needs is seen rn, I find it still is a valid framework. And on it, having security of food and shelter are pretty fundamental, and guess what; they are all money based.
Money can’t buy happiness but it sure takes the sting out of being poor
Money can’t buy you happiness, but lack of it usually makes you not happier.
Money can’t buy happiness, but it can sure as hell pay off stress.
Exactly. I’m not unhappy cause I’m skint, it’s just all of my problems would go away if I had a few more quid.
It was a good while ago now, but the research I’ve seen into the issue seemed to show that income and happiness are correlated up to about £50k / year (median income was in the low 30s I think back then).
After that the “mo’ money, mo’ problems” effect becomes dominant.
Once your basic needs are met, security and safety are much more important than being able to buy more stuff.
cost of living and culture varies in the US to UK. a lot higher per capita in the US earn $100k than earn £50k in the UK.
“Money can’t buy happiness, but poverty can’t buy anything”.
That’s probably catchier than mine:
“Money can’t buy happiness, but you can’t find happiness when threatened with homelessness and starvation”.
Here my take: Money doesn’t buy happiness but it gives you security and reasuresurement you have something to fall back on.
Meaning: You can only buy so much stuff till you are indifferent to it, but having enough money to afford a good living standard and having some to the side for some unforseen expense, sure is nice and makes you sleep way better.
Money doesn’t buy happiness but it buys a lot of shit that makes me happy.
I’m not trying to own the media and bust unions over here, I just want to put nicer tomatoes in my salad
Well, why aren’t you doing 60 hours then if you want that pasta so much? /s
Exactly, pull yourself up by the pasta straps!
