no matter the wages, there's always gonna be things we convince ourselves we want...because the wanting is most of it. The insatiable ghost, as they say.
I used to believe that, until I started making a decent amount of money. For me it wasn't so much a matter of wanting more
stuff, it was a matter of, "Hey, we can afford to pay a million dollars for rent now, so we may as well do it!" and the next thing you know you're behind the 8 ball, because while you
may be able to afford that million dollar rent, you would have been a lot better off keeping your old half million dollar rent.
The costs mysteriously expand to eat up whatever you're taking home, whether you consciously consume more or not.
But I think that's human nature rather than greed. It's why so many people get fat. No one wakes up one day and says, "Now I think I'll just eat to excess and become slovenly!" Well, most people don't, anyway. But we have an old, left over genetic driving force that tells us to put away as much food as we can when we have it, because we may not get to eat during the winter. Problem is, there's no more winter.
No one thinks they have enough. Enough money, enough time, enough love. That is also (modern) human nature. The quest for satisfaction that is always just around the corner. Add to that the fact that people seem to feel entitled to quite a bit these days, and they become angry when they don't get what they feel they "deserve." As noted philosopher Prince once observed, "What's the matter with your life? Is your poverty bringing you down? Is your mailman jerking you 'round? Did he put your million dollar check in someone else's box?"
I realize none of this addresses
jew's existential angst, but I don't have any good advice on how to
do something. I think that's innate. You either do shit or you don't. But don't feel too bad, most people don't.