I am very curious as to your last point: "The metric for rating the size of your mark needs to change before we can even begin to move away from materialism". I think you're onto something as studies show that it's not how much money we make that affects our happiness as what those around us have. So it seems our tendency to compare ourselves to others is an important point here.

What do you see as the metric for rating the size of our mark currently? Our toys: home, car, etc.? Do you have any vision of what it could change to? Are there any elements of a Green New Deal, or even a Green American Dream that could come into play?

Since we tend to compare ourselves to others, if in at least some communities, the idea that it's not cool to just want stuff takes off, then can this attitude become infectious for the rest of the country?

I see small things changing in small pockets of the U.S. Like my sister lives in Seattle and I was talking about green cleaning companies and she said "Who doesn't clean with green cleaning products these days?". In her community, at least (not necessarily all of Seattle), that is what she sees so it's become her norm. A small example.