The lower down a bit of suffering is on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the easier it is to measure on a societal scale. Everyone's starving to death? Easy to mea

The lower down a bit of suffering is on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the easier it is to measure on a societal scale. Everyone's starving to death? Easy to measure. Everyone's living in an economically precarious situation? A bit more difficult to measure. Everyone's living life with a vague sense of listlessness and ennui? Much more difficult to measure. Tackling the easily measured physical suffering both takes priority and has the most obvious means of feedback.