Quote Originally Posted by UltraliteAngler View Post

I fear that many in the third world who want to drive SUVs, buy all sorts of stuff on Amazon, have 4 kids, jet-set to sweet vacation spots, etc. will have a similar reaction: "You got yours. Why can't I get mine?!"

But all this reminds me of that old maxim: "Everyone knows money can't buy happiness, but they insist on finding out themselves."

Thoughts?
You are right. There's a really good book by Gary Cross called "An All-Consuming Century: Why Consumerism Won in Modern America" Very well-written and researched, but it pretty much stated what you said. People need and want tangible signs of success, especially if they are coming out of subsistence and into comfort and relative wealth. So this is the nouveau riche and the waves of immigrants and countries in the Third World.. the pattern you describe of Aspire, Acquire, Satisfy, Reject is a predictable one.

The book had literally no insights for how this might change in the future, which I found to be kind of disappointing. You could probably trace the same patterns back to Greece and Rome and the Enlightenment and the Tower of Babel and all other rise/fall historical precedents.