Charles Hugh Smith is really on to something here; if modern-day society was purposefully designed, it couldn't be made to breed less happiness.

Take my job: I make existing, perfectly-functional computer systems .0001% better, increasing shareholder returns by an immeasurably small fraction of a fraction of a percent. Talk about fulfilling! What's bizarre is that I get paid good money to do it-- so good, that it's tough to stop, especially with the cost of living these days!

It's what Charles Hugh Smith calls "the landfill economy". The fact that I make more than 100k USD in what I do shows how far into diminishing returns territory the current system is.

In a way, this festering disconnect was already starting in the 19th century, at least for a certain class-- remember that poignant passage from "Anna Karenina", where Levin is working with the scythe, with the peasants? Now it's on steroids: everyone is Levin.

My mom had a parallel story from today; she was in Mexico a few years ago, and she saw all of the "peasants" walking back in a huge group from fourteen hour jobs in the "hospitality" business. She'd never seen such an authentically happy group! Meanwhile, the wealthy tourists were stressed out and grumpy.

We had an IT conference recently in a musty, almost horse-smelling building. I was so relaxed! Meanwhile, people around me were complaining about "the smell".