Raise the baseline too high and you may never reach it, and never be happy, despite having a good life. Is that what you want?
Because it can be. Because we’re the richest country in the world and yet for some reason we force people into bankruptcy because they didn’t have health insurance on the day they had a medical emergency.
I want:
1. People not to have to worry about seeing a doctor because they can’t afford it.
2. People not to have to worry about having shelter.
3. People not to have to worry about where their next meal will come from.
4. People to be able to provide a solid, basic, decent life for themselves and their families.
5. People to be able receive an education without it being onerously expensive.
Among other things.
I don’t think these are intractable problems for a civilization that sent people to the moon, perform open heart surgery, and deliver energy consistently and safely to millions of people.
If you're always questioning if you're happy enough, you'll never truly reach happiness.
So one obtains shelter, and healthcare, and an education, and all those things you listed. And they're still not happy? If cake is the baseline, is more icing going to make that much better?
I have observed that people who reach that state aren't looking for "more money" so much as they are looking for something that is more fulfilling for them personally. And the article observes that as well.
Are you? When I just Googled "richest country in the world", not a single result placed the US in #1.
That said, I wouldn't be surprised if the median salary in the US was higher than the median salary in Luxembourg/Ireland/Singapore/Brunei/oil-rich-middle-east. Along with a lower tax burden resulting in higher net pay.
