If you follow Aristotle (and, let’s be frank, a lot of what passes for common sense), you need to be part of the lucky elite or you won’t have a good life. This outlook puts most people on the perennially losing side of things, condemning them to the pursuit of material goods because they mistakenly think that their happiness and worth depend on acquiring them. Psychologists call this the hedonic treadmill: you keep running, but you ain’t goin’ nowhere.
