I've been to the first world. I noticed while there that they spend the majority of their time and effort in pursuit of activities that hardly be classified as

I've been to the first world. I noticed while there that they spend the majority of their time and effort in pursuit of activities that hardly be classified as basic needs. I've noticed that beyond basic needs, what can be classified as a 'legitimate cause' gets pretty subjective pretty fast. There is even the curious phenomenon of the 'starving artist', a class of individuals who willingly compromise basic necessities in pursuit of things at the highest order of Maslow's heirarchy of needs. Though few of them are actually starving, really it just means they can't afford luxury goods commonly found amongst even the lower classes.