Many people say money can’t buy happiness, but what is happiness without the freedom that comes with having money? I believe that although a person might not be able to physically buy the emotion, they can access things that lead to their happiness.

As we look all around us, within the society that we live in, material items are a key source of joy. Almost every major holiday has been attached to fueling this hyper consumer mindset. We get dopamine from buying flowers on Valentines day, gifts for Christmas, or even shopping for ourselves during Labor day sales. Buying things has been deeply ingrained into our life.

Studies have shown that clicking the check-out button gives most people a burst of thrill. “Why Shopping Makes Us Feel Good: The Psychology and Marketing Tactics” by the Commons Team states “Fast-paced trends and manipulative “last chance” marketing make us feel like we need to buy now, or risk losing items forever. That down-to-the-wire adrenaline gives our brains a thrill and makes us feel a rush when we shop.” All the big sales days that seem to show up every few weeks, have shaped the way many people have become addicted to shopping. All in all, the actions of purchasing things with our money have given us the opportunity to be happy.

In the Emmy nominated series “Squid Games,” we see many financially struggling people get the opportunity to win a life changing amount of money. Winning that money came at a cost, in order for them to get more money every other person would have to die. In the show they would play childhood games and the losers were killed. After the first round the players got to vote if they wanted to keep playing or end the game now and take the smaller prize. They initially voted to leave with the small amount of money that they got. However, when they went back to their normal impoverished lives they were unhappy and not content. So they all decided to come back to the game. Money clearly had a profound effect on their happiness. Especially since they lacked it. These people saw money as a chance of stability and a chance to get out of their troubles. Being comfortable is the first step to being happy, as it gives us the opportunity to have more freedom to do the things that we want.

As we grow up to be adults in the world, we want to believe that “money can’t buy true happiness;” however, when faced with the harsh realities of not having money is when we understand that money does buy us the chance to be happy.