does money buy happiness?
there are many short form videos that ask people on the street if they think 'does money buy happiness?'
this question is supposed to be a kind of a debate bait, since its quite provocative.
it just occured to me that one way to respond to this question would be to say, 'can happiness be bought?'
thats the crux of it isnt it, that similar to the adage 'beauty in the eye of the beholder', happiness is an internal perspective.
many argue that daily comforts of shelter, warmth, etc are all things money can buy, and they are some minimum needs that provide safety, comfort and security. they make the association or conflation that such a social security is a form of happiness.
then the counter argument would be, can a person who doesnt have such social security facilities, is happy or not?
I believe it has something to do with the ecosystem they are living in. one could argue that were people before industrialisation not happy?