The American inventor and statesman Benjamin Franklin once said, “Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness.” From the statement, what really struck me was the line “There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness”. Upon further reflection of the society that we currently live in, a capitalist society, I believe for this statement to be true.
Objectively speaking, those with money will probably find “happiness”. This happiness might be in the form of clothing, food, transport, and shelter. Those without money aren’t able to enjoy such luxuries, and one could argue because of this that they aren’t happy. What I find interesting is the fact that in order to gain money, one must abide by the social systems set up by society. In order to become wealthy, you must work, and in order to acquire a good job, you must get a good education.
This is blatantly flawed, does it mean those who grow up without many resources don’t get the chance to be “happy”? People are stuck within this system, and if they choose to stray from it, they won’t find success. This is all caused by the “happiness” which we call money. All it does is fuel greed, that’s what capitalism does, make the rich richer and the poor poorer. In almost every country, the majority of wealth is owned by a small percentage of the population, usually 1-3%. Meanwhile, poverty is still a pressing issue across the world, and many developing countries still require economic assistance.
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In my opinion, money has brought more problems than solving them. If we look at history, capitalism was the driving force of the industrial revolution and trade, which can be viewed as beneficial towards humanity. However, colonialization, slavery, and wars were also products of capitalism. What fueled slavery and colonialization during the 17th-19th centuries was solely for the reason of profit. Even after slavery was abolished, issues such as child labor and minimum wages are still prominent in our society today.
While trade, as we know it today, might not be possible without a system of currency in place, how has it really helped us? Countries fight over trivial matters regarding money, take the trade wars as an example; while countries are too busy fighting over their patriotism and economic egos, they could collaborate to benefit each other. Look at the United States and China as an example, the world’s two leading economies, hindering each other’s economic growth while they could work cooperatively.
