Caring about social status turns relationships into transactions ("I'll marry her because she can get me this", "I'll make friends with Tom because even though

Caring about social status turns relationships into transactions ("I'll marry her because she can get me this", "I'll make friends with Tom because even though he's a fascist he can introduce me to my future employer"). Believing and working for something that is higher than yourself shouldn't be treated as a foreign mindset, but something everyone should strive towards. Yes, society may not reward you directly for your efforts, and yes you will be acutely aware of people who are sailing by in life under much less effort by serving solely their own interests, but these people do not breed communities or trust. These people get rich enough to buy into a community of trust that was built by people like you in the first place. TLDR: Bankers like Art, and spend large sums of money on the work of artists who never did it for the money.