<p>I have to jump in here because I find ‘phear’s’ argument deeply disturbing. Forgive me for my bluntness, but he is either narcissistic (conflating his own world view with THE world view) or seriously deluded. Believe me, there are plenty of people - like me - who believe that success has only minimally to do with money or power (in its crude sense). To use just one small example, there are many artists out there - I mean, visual, performing, writers, musicians, etc. - who are intensely successful and live their lives with joy and meaning … and make (gasp!) less than $100,000 or less than $50,000. Many many. In Phear’s own world, he is probably surrounded by people who are always desperately trying to out-trump the other with bigger and better toys/phallic symbols so they can thump themselves on the chest and say, “Gosh, I’m powerful! Look at me! Be envious!”
And you know what? That’s fine if that’s what they want to do. But to imagine that everyone is just like them, or if they’re not, they’re failures, would be insulting if it weren’t so laughably ridiculous. It’s a big world out there. There are so many ways to live. How do you want to live your life/</p>