“Money can’t buy happiness.” This is a famous expression that we have always believed when growing up. We would have elders always reminding youngsters that there is a lot more to life than money. However, today, the world has become a place where humanity revolves around money.
I agree that money does not buy happiness but as an earning person in the 21st century, it is inevitable to notice the power money holds. Amid the COVID-19, there has been a drastic economic recession globally. With the prolonging pandemic, many have lost jobs, lost hope in living, and went through economic damage due to strict social distancing protocols. This impacted us a lot more financially in a way that we have become the slaves of money.
Based on the June 2020 Global Economic Prospects, there has been a 5.2 percent decrease in global GDP this year. This is one of the deepest global recession in decades countries have faced. For the Korean economy, the debt-to-GDP ratio has exceeded 40 percent. The country has been put in great debt in order to support those who have been affected by the pandemic. The government’s spending and support was inevitable as people expressed concerns about their quality of living. The complaints raised by citizens were that they were not earning enough compared to their spending. This pinpointed the increasing market price with the virus and the serious, long-term typhoon catastrophe.
So far, everyone can agree that 2020 has been a disaster and it is still ongoing. But, why is it that despite the global threat and economic crisis, we have begun to spend more? Finding a job used to be a mission for youths, however, with work-from-home becoming a trend and many companies going out-of-business or losing profit, recruitments are extra hard. With job seeking being difficult, people are starting to rely and realize the importance of money in a negative way.
Ever since monetary value increased, people been prioritizing earning money rather than truly finding happiness in their lives. For youths today, we are tied down by the society’s view on our standards of living a “decent” life. It is obvious for us to see the smile on our faces when our bank account gets filled on pay day. This is our sad reality. One would work extremely hard waiting for that one day they have the money in their pockets.
The social pressure received from working hard just to earn that money, in fact brings about overspending in youths today. It has become a normal pattern for us to spend money on unnecessary things that we find the smallest happiness in. Having the desire to dress up, buying expensive things, and impulsive buying is our escape from reality. It is true we are happy at that moment but does it last long? Whenever one has the money, they believe that money can buy happiness. But this happiness does not last long as the moment we overspend, we go back to the bottom with a frown. This is the world we are living in.
I want to ask everyone, are we heading the right way? Living with social pressure has made us overspend and believe that money CAN buy happiness. In fact, the reality is that we are being controlled by that piece of paper. We have lost the passion in living since money plays such a large role in our lives. I think many will agree that life was better when we were not earning and spending. The pandemic should be a chance for people to realize that money is not everything and that we should always be prepared for any disaster heading our way.