“Money doesn’t buy happiness”: it is often those who are on a £400k annual salary, own 2 sports cars, a mansion worth £5 million, only branded clothes, and a designer dog claiming this. “Money doesn’t buy happiness”: it is often those who have only ever lived a life of privilege and wealth (usually from exploiting their workers, or from inheriting money from parents who did so) claiming this. “Money doesn’t buy happiness”: it is never those working 3 minimum wage jobs, still struggling to pay the bills, and being trapped in an endless loop of exploitation by monolithic corporations claiming this.

But of course, we should believe these faceless companies that profit off forcing us, their workers, into poverty; money doesn’t buy happiness, right?

After interviewing a highly-educated economics expert, the answer to this question became clear – “by attacking the foundations of the current wealth crisis at a more local level, larger issues will eventually collapse and be broken down”. Perhaps if our society and political system wasn’t so ruthlessly capitalist, our reliance on money wouldn’t be so devastating. Everywhere we look we see the wounds caused by the greed for more wealth. Homeless people dying on the streets. Single mothers unable to feed their starving children. The elderly living in perpetual darkness because they can’t afford the electricity bill. People are shoved into a vicious circle: a lack of money has dragged them into poverty, and they lack the money needed to escape. By inventing money, we also invention privation and now the solution to the problem is tantalisingly held just out of reach by the super-rich.

But it’s okay, because according to our politicians (who are definitely not marionettes for their uber-wealthy donors to control like puppets), billionaires are not the problem. The upper-class hoarding wealth while their neighbours starve are not the problem. The disparity in wealth between classes is not the problem; (did you know that in the US, the richest 1% now has more money than the poorest 90%?) The real problem is definitely the exploited workers making £8.20 an hour instead of simply finding higher paying jobs. How silly of them!

The rich and powerful recognise that money is the most crucial resource in the world. Nothing can be done without money. And money can buy everything, including happiness. The rich and powerful recognise that due to the way our society is built, they have to oppress the poor in order to retain their own wealth and power.

Money does buy happiness.