We've been asked this question many times: would you rather have money over family, or friends? We've written several value education examinations in school and argued in different debate contests that no, money cannot buy everything. It may sound absurd, but those who prioritised money above love or friendship were shunned. Teachers corrected them, saying that they could not place such a high value on money. No one warned us, however, about the capitalist society we were about to join.
When we were in high school and had the choice of choosing from a variety of areas, our parents encouraged us to pursue science since it would help us settle down sooner. We were assured that you would have jobs lined up, and that it would be well-paying work. Isn't it true that it all came down to money? Was it just for the sake of "money" that you spent more than 15 years of your life studying?
Today's education has devolved into a competition to make more money, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Because we live in a capitalist environment, we will have to value money above everything else. Money cannot be separated from everything in today's society.
Money can't buy happiness, as the cliche goes, and it's possible that it truly can't. However, it will undoubtedly make your life easier. If you ask a poor person who is trying to pay off debts or who is unable to save for emergencies, he would believe that money and happiness are intimately related.
Money may not be everything to me as a college student, but it does play a significant role in all of my life decisions. We have observed how the quantity of money necessary influences our daily life decision after spending 20 years of my life in a middle-class family.
Ask anybody who works for a firm all day and night if they would be in the same line of work if we didn't need money to survive, much alone. 8 out of 10 of them would give a different answer to this question because people seek pleasure and serenity, but in today's society, money has become a source of these abstract things. And if money is necessary to obtain that psychological assistance, to take a vacation, to have fun, then perhaps money might buy me happiness.
Kirti Jha is an undergraduate student of economics who enjoys writing stories revolving around economics and personal finance.