I don't think the two arguments are incompatible. Yes having more money is no guarantee of a high quality life. There are other types of wealth and value. But people who have more money are by definition wealthier monetarily. If someone chooses to, say, work a job that require a long commute and huge amounts of overtime their life may not be better than someone who values a work-life balance. That's a perfectly fair thing to say, but the person who prioritizes making as much money as possible will tend to have more money.
If you want to compare things like quality of life, life satisfaction, or social function you can look at happiness surveys, HDI stats (which includes GDP), crime and inequality figures, social mobility and trust etc. Lots of different options. But if you want to compare monetary wealth you would look at GDP percapita, mean/median incomes, household net wealth, etc. As with any stat you just have to remember what they do and don't mean. and avoid imputing inappropriate meaning.
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"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." - George Bernard Shaw
Don't ask people not to debate a topic. Just stop making debatable assertions. Problem solved.
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