"The idea that the only thing that matters to human well-being
is how one stands relatively to others...
There is now strong and consistent evidence (from fields such as
microeconomics, experimental economics, psychology, sociolology and primatology)
that it doesn't really matter how much you earn, as long as
you earn more than your wife's sister's husband...
It seems to imply that equality will never become possible in human societies:
The driving force is always to get ahead of the rest...
So it would seem that we are forever stuck with poverty, disease and unjust hierarchies...
Inequality may subjectively seem nice to the rich, but objectively it is not in their interest"
'dangerous idea', edge.org