I can buy into that for the third world; but, I was a child of the fifties, my parents had a very good lower middle class life, and I wanted for nothing that was 'needed', to flourish. At this time the nuclear family used less than half the energy per person and lived better than any generation before.
The economic system children of the fifties were borne into created the capitalistic values of always wanting more than was needed, conservation took a back seat, advertisement created dissatisfaction with status quo, family structures dissolved, and every family suddenly had two and three cars to travel farther in a day than their grand parents traveled in a month. But that still wasn't enough, we all wanted to retire without worry, by age of 55. Most all of the above is learned behavior, expectations greatly influenced by an economic system and supporting media, that demanded an ever increasing consumption level far beyond need, to realize personal satisfaction.
Now we try to convince ourselves our actions were natural, derived from DNA. My grandparents, didn't even know what DNA was, and they cherished what they had, maintained it and passed much of it on to the younger generation, wasted near to nothing, and thought a half day on Sunday to eat and talk story with the family and neighbors, was the best life to be offered. They were happy and content. They would cringe at the throwaway society we live in today, where no level of consumption is enough, happiness is fleeting within dreams of more, and ages faster that the last material purchased.
Everyone wants a better life for their children? Maybe in the third world. For the first and second world citizens, we have lived a life divided between need and desire, and have made a choice. The majority were swept along within the designs of the society and economy they were reared. We had the tools to think and the emotion to sink. Our collective choice, is today's dilemma.
From where I've been and from what I've seen, the second law of thermodynamics and DNA are but an excuse that dissolves guilt from actions of desire. As for the motivations and framework of the society and economy we have become, that has been driven by greed without thought of the future, and materialistic benefitting, only the very few. We have only been led to where we are today, by surrendering our choice to emotion.
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