This effect has become known as the “hedonic treadmill”: no matter how affluent people become, they continually compare themselves with others in their peer group and always desire more. In our globally interconnected world, the standards people compare themselves against are no longer exclusively those of their local peer group but those of the global elite whose images are continually thrust into their presence. The global “hedonic treadmill” is getting ever faster and broader.
Deonic treadmill. Growth and comparison
