EVALUATIVE COMMENTARY

Based on the overview of the article about money can buy happiness, the issue presented in the
article is money can buy happiness in real life. Furthermore, the author’s point of view on this issue
is he agreed. Meanwhile, the author’s tone in giving his opinion towards this issue is positive.

On top of that, the main point of why the author agreed with the issue is because he had stated his
overview of this issue clearly. First and foremost, the author stated that money is similar to a tool
like anything further. We need to use money as a tool for a happier life instead of using it as a final
part of something. Besides, we need to see the things that we pay as something that accomplish a
goal for us in life and for that we could feel much happier.

In the second place, the authors state that money can buy things that make you feel pleasure. We
can’t get happiness by having a thousand different things, but we can feel it by the result if we spend
it on the things that we love. Happiness is literally the result of the things that we do and money can
allow you to do different things a day. Therefore, you can feel happy every time you spend it on
things that you love .

Moreover, we should spend our money on people who gave us real happiness. There are mad
people who spend their money on people that don’t give us the real happiness. You should pay out
your money on those who look after you, bring a smile to your face and make you feel good
whenever you’re in their presence. Therefore, you will achieve long-lasting happiness.

Besides, the overview given by the author is clear because it is easily seen and directly.
Unfortunately, the article is not well supported. There is no strong evidence presented in the article
to support their key points. Moreover, the author has not provide counterargument at all since the
author being positive and agreed on this issue.

From my point of view, I agree with the author’s statement which is money can buy happiness in
life. I agree that money can buy happiness because money can relieve our stress. Having an
unlimited amount of money somehow makes us free from financial problems such as excessive
debt levels and also insufficient emergency funds. It is true that lack of money is undoubtedly
stressful that is far away from the term happiness. The American Psychological Association survey
found out that 72% of Americans felt stressed about money in the past month, 22% reported
extreme stress (McGrady, 2016). When money reduces our financial stress, we will be able to focus
on other important areas of our life, relax and also can gain a lot of happiness with a free-peaceful
mind that is stress-free.

Moreover, money can buy happiness by making us live in a comfortable state. If you have enough
money, you could buy the basic comforts, but if you have plenty of money, you do not just get the
basic things, but you can also buy the most expensive things that could provide you more pleasure
that could lead to a full of happiness. As an example , what you need is just a television as your basic
comfort but instead of buying a small television with cheaper price you could be able to buy 82-
inches Q900 8K Smart QLCD Curve television that costs you around RM99,999.00. A recent study
by Hilke Plassmann, John O'Doherty, Baba Shiv, and Antonio Rangel, published in 2008 in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, measured brain activity while research
participants were drinking wine (Peterson, 2013). Regions of the brain which is responsible for
the registering of pleasure were more active when the wine was identified as expensive as opposed
to inexpensive. The more the pleasure, the more happiness.

Lastly, money can never make us lonely. Money can be used as a tool to build a strong connection
and have a great social life by hanging out with new people or even traveling solo. Besides, we can
also make new bonds so that we don’t feel like we are alone in this world. The lonely feeling
contradicts to the term of happiness. Modern life making us lonelier, and recent research indicates
that this may be the next biggest public health issue. A recent review of studies states that loneliness
increases mortality risk by 26 % (Harris, 2015). To cure this issue, making new friends by traveling
across the world and having plenty of money is one of the solution to achieve happiness. Solo
Traveler World also states that 43% of solo travellers travel three or more times in a year (Graft,
2019).

To sum up, I agree with the issue and also the author’s statement which are money can actually
guarantee your happiness by reducing our pressure, having a luxurious lifestyle and also by having
a companion. I always bear in mind that, even though money could bring real happiness, it also
could destroy our life if you took the wrong steps to handle it in a healthier way. Being rich is not
the perfect solution to living a great life, but by having a lot of money somehow affect the level of
happiness in life.
 REFERENCES

BOOK

Peterson, C. (2013). Pursuing the good life: 100 reflections on positive psychology. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.

WEBSITE

Faddoul, S. (2019, February 28). Money CAN buy Happiness. Retrieved from
https://medium.com/thrive-global/money-can-buy-happiness-c0f257f5d07c.

Graft, A. (2019, November 5). Travel and Tourism Statistics: The Ultimate Collection.
Retrieved from https://blog.accessdevelopment.com/tourism-and-travel-statistics-the-
ultimate-collection.

Harris, R. (2015, March 30). Are we lonelier than ever? Retrieved from
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/the-
loneliness-epidemic-more-connected-than-ever-but-feeling-more-alone-
10143206.html.

McGrady, V. (2016, October 11). 72% Are Financially Stressed: Here's How To Get Out
From Under Money Woes. Retrieved from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/vanessamcgrady/2016/10/11/stress/#604e4106685a.