How many such people are there who do not have a wealthy uncle who can support them while they find their purpose? How many do we lose in the morass of making a living?
The result is perhaps more material wealth, but aimless, ugly, mediocre, and vulgar in its nature, because we suffer an acute spiritual poverty. Consumerism is what happens when material goods are not ordered toward a higher end. We have replaced the cathedral with the hamburger and the dildo.
But hamburgers and dildos are good. It's not pleasure itself that has an ugly face; rather, it's seeking pleasure in spite of the cost to others.
You offer spiritualism as a cure. I think our higher end should be not spiritualism but the well-being of those we care about.
It's nice that spiritualism covers all bases: you should care about and help your friends and family; you should practice gratitude; etc. But we should state those things directly, lest fundamentalist screwball ideas like restriction of individual expression creep in under the guise of moral righteousness.
By whom? Not by anyone I'm familiar with.
“The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.”
John Kenneth Galbraith
PS. And yet, forecasts and "expectations" happen. Look at Nvidia. 3Tn. worth and down sharply, with increasing profits just because of market expectations.-
This is an impressively sharp observation. And, this, in a comment that is already gold. Really appreciated.-