The world is not fair and nature doesn’t care if you’re happy. You have to set your own goals and try to achieve them.
Money helps a lot of people. Pretending it doesn’t is misguided if you’re living in a capitalist society. Money improves people’s circumstances. It just does. What’s enough varies from person to person, you don’t necessarily need a lot of money, but you need enough.
But what always stays the same is our desire to live longer, to live better, and to avoid suffering. It can’t be emphasized enough: have money. In general, the person with the most options will have better outcomes. The top predictor of health, around the world now and throughout history is wealth. And if you can get it without compromising your sense of purpose or connection to others, or your moral decency so much the better.
We’re constantly trying to reduce our level of anxiety. At the most basic level, organisms react in one of two ways, by approaching something or by avoiding something. Our consistent motivations are reproducing, living longer, living better, and avoiding suffering. Not having money cuts down the number of options we have.
Where can you trade money for time? Where can you spend money that creates more time tomorrow or next week? That’s almost always a good investment.
In a capitalist system, you become rich by living in a nation with the things you need to become rich. Some of those things are infrastructure, education, and a workforce, and mostly, a population of people who can afford to buy things.