Imagine how horrible our economy would be if we were all content/happy, or even a high percentage of Americans (or any other industrialized country) were this way.
Malcontent and unhappiness are the driving forces of capitalism. Little packages of instant gratification for sale in a million different ways. Pharmaceutical companies would crumble, so would Wal-mart, Sears, car manufacturers, advertising agencies.....EVERYTHING!
Imagine what advertising would have to be like if everyone was content with their life.
So... where does this put us? what does this mean? Do corporations/government maliciously attempt to subvert true happiness by instilling materialism? Are we better off as a nation/world being unhappy?
Those are good questions, psilo.
The way I see it, we are more likely to experience a gradual migration concerning individual attitudes and values as opposed to a mass exodus. So, under normal circumstances, I would predict a slow and almost imperceptable swing in buying habits resulting from any evolution of consciousness mentioned above. Even then, I'm not holding my breath a mass awakening of humankind. (At least until the vagaries of time are solved. hehe)
lw
heard this on NPR yesterday, it was what inspired the thoughts that inspired the post.... check it out if you have 3 minutes, it is very insightful, IMO....
NPR story (//http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4714604)