The problem with this is that reality is cruel. People who don't understand this are sacrificing long-term happiness for short-term happiness. My friend group

The problem with this is that reality is cruel. People who don't understand this are sacrificing long-term happiness for short-term happiness. My friend group from college is split nearly 50/50 of people who "made it" and people who didn't. One half has jobs, girlfriends, cars, etc. The other half lives with their parents working part time, smoking weed, and playing video games. The second half seems a lot happier than the first, to be honest. However if (God forbid) were they ever to get into an accident, or have some medical problem, or need to do major repairs on their houses, or finally find someone they want to settle down with - there's no money to pay for that. And then they'll probably not seem as happy. Recently I asked a few people if they would be interested in a summer vacation to Europe, and the most common response was "I wish I could go but I can't afford that." Not very fun. People use to walk a lot more and do a lot more menial labor. It probably wasn't very "desirable". Now I drive everywhere and 99% of what I buy is made with machines. That's a lot more fun... Until the global warming hits. There is no free lunch. This is not to say we can't try and improve things. But for the foreseeable future life won't always be rosy.