From a comment by MS on an article about moral courage featuring a Nobel Prize winner:
Much is made of the pursuit of happiness in US society but rarely do we talk about the two main types of happiness as delineated by ancient philosophers — hedonic vs. eudaemonic happiness. The former, centered around the usual things we think of as making us happy (status, money, love, food, sex, etc.), is overemphasized where as the latter, which is about living a meaningful life, is rarely discussed. People like Mr. Sayarthi have the latter in spades.
It’s true. I suspect it ties into consumerism. Our economy relies on people buying, buying, buying. Goods and services, and if we don’t, suddenly recession and everybody’s unhappy.