The Moral Value of Wealth and Its Relation to Status

Humans attribute significant moral value to wealth as a key indicator of status rather than happiness. Wealth serves as the most concrete representation of status, similar to how a college degree symbolizes social standing despite the vast availability of knowledge elsewhere. People are inherently wired to seek status, using money as a primary scorecard for their societal value. This emphasis on status leads to anxiety, as individuals continuously measure their wealth relative to those around them, creating an endless cycle of comparison. In capitalistic societies, overall wealth may increase over time, yet the pursuit of status through wealth leads to a pervasive sense of dissatisfaction, as individuals remain caught in a relative game with no objective measure of success.