Does Money Buy Happiness?
The short answer to this question is a resounding yes. The long answer? Well, let’s just say, in a certain manner of speaking that money does indeed buy happiness. Happiness isn’t a commodity sitting on a store shelf, so we can’t think of money as a product. Happiness has been defined as a mere emotion. Others have more elaborate definitions: a state of being, a state of mind, something that’s granted exclusively via a belief in a deity, etc.
Happiness is elusive in that it’s hard to stay happy and also in that it’s hard to define what it is. Happiness, to my mind, isn’t a state of being or mind; nor is it something bestowed on us by a deity we believe in. Happiness is emergent rather than fundamental, so it isn’t a thing in itself. It’s existence is contingent on at least one other thing, but in most cases, contingent on a number of factors that come together to make us happy.
If you are in good health, have a stable career, food on your table, can pay your bills on time, and so on, you may be happy. Or not. You can have all of that and still find that you’re not happy because you want to be in a relationship or because you covet something else entirely, be it a promotion at work or a luxury item you can’t afford or something as simple as being able to move out of the bad neighborhood you currently live in. If happiness is reducible to just one fundamental thing in itself, I would say that it’s reducible to and contingent on freedom.
People talk about specifically financial freedom. In that, they imply the freedom to do a slew of things: buy whatever they covet, travel wherever they want, afford a stay at any hotel, and so on. So if happiness is contingent on freedom, then yes, money does buy happiness. Speaking as someone who grew up poor and who is currently a middle class American, I can say without a doubt that I’d be happier if I were more well off. The reason for that is because I value my freedom. Let’s unpack the amount of freedom I’d have if I had financial freedom.
For one, I’d have freedom to control my own time. This is absolutely crucial for me and is usually the source of my frustration and unhappiness. There’s just not enough time! What kind of time? Well, personal time in particular is the kind of time I speak of. I find myself working, even on weekends. I have little time to myself and my time is often allocated more heavily toward other people and their needs.
I’d also be free to control my own space. This, again, is pivotal. I’m an ambivert, so once my social meter plummets, I need my own space. I find a lot of comfort in solitude. I genuinely enjoy being alone at times. I am most effective in my writing when I’m alone, when there’s nothing but the sound of my own breathing. I can also use personal space to read or to do intensive research.
Determinism aside, I’d also have, at the very least, the appearance of freedom of choice. With x amount of millions of dollars in my bank account, the destinations are boundless. I can go to Punta Cana, Cancun, Paris, Sydney, Prague, Budapest, London, Madrid, Belfast, or anywhere else. I can visit any known monument, any of the eight wonders of the world, and anyone I may know outside of New York City. I can go by plane, by cruise, by train, by bus, or by car. I’d be free to leave however I please and whenever I please.
Financial freedom really is just a way of consolidating freedom of time, of space, and of choice. Money can certainly buy you that kind of freedom. At my current job, I have time constraints. I have to be somewhere at a given time and that’s that. There’s always someone to answer to. If I had financial freedom, I wouldn’t be bound to any such commitments, i.e. I would be my own boss.
Money can certainly buy happiness, but perhaps the answer is a subjective one. Money can buy my happiness given my drawn out explanation here. If you value different things, then money may not buy your happiness. I happen to think that the answer isn’t subjective though. Unhappiness is always tied to time, space, or choice. It also doesn’t matter where a person finds themselves in the world; you can be American, French, Chinese, South African, or what have you. If you’re unhappy, it’s because you want to be somewhere other than where you are: you hate your job; you hate your abusive stepfather or significant other; you don’t like your neighborhood; you don’t like your country. Or, you want to do something else with your time: you want to sleep more; you want to spend time with people other than the people you find yourself with at the moment; you don’t want to be stuck at your job for eight hours; you don’t want to be in class for seven or eight hours. Or, you want more choices: you’re tired of eating the same things; you’re tired of being in the same city; you’re tired of not being able to afford a fancier vacation.
The poorest people on the planet don’t want to live in the underdeveloped parts of their country. They don’t want to live in a shelter with broken, leaky ceilings. They don’t want be confined to the same space. They don’t want to be stuck in that same situation all the time. They want to be able to make better choices for themselves and their families. Humans have this in common and this is arguably why religion is so prevalent: the promise of eternity, be it heaven or reincarnation or whatever afterlife concept you can think of. What everyone seems to want is freedom. We all want freedom to do what we want and when we want, and we want full access to every choice imaginable in every market we can think of, whether that be food, clothing, shelter, cars, or other commodities.
Or is there something you value more than freedom? If so, can you not buy that with money?
One last thing! I definitely don’t mean to exclude anyone who is disabled (mentally or physically) nor anyone who has a debilitating illness. But at the end of the day, I think such individuals want freedom too. Money definitely can’t buy a clean bill of health in all cases. I can remove a few wisdom teeth causing me pain, but if the cancer is too advanced, removing any tumors wouldn’t help me at all. Money can buy happiness iff one is healthy enough to fully enjoy their freedom. That’s the thing about retirement eh!? That’s another story though!
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