Most healthy, sane people don't want unlimited riches or power any more than they want fame. It does not automatically follow from that statement that poverty is a virtue, though.

Most people want a hierarchy of needs satisfied (remember Maszlow?). They are physical needs, personal security, human love, self-respect, and fulfillment. Some financial success can help you attain the first two so you can concentrate on the last three. But the last three do not generally depend at all on how rich you are.

I don't really think I'd be any happier if I were richer. I already have everything I need, and much of what I want. I am also relatively free (as free as any human can be) of any threats to that state, or harsh obligations I must fulfill to maintain it.

Sure, there's a lot of things I'd like to have but they are extravagances I can live without (such as a private observatory in the California Coastal Range, a 40 foot sloop, and a stable of leggy Vegas showgirls). There are also things I'd like to have which no amount of wealth can purchase (30 years off my life, or a guarantee of eternal health). But realistically, I'm doing just fine. I'm happy with what I have, and I am as confident as anyone can be that I'm not likely to lose it, that is, I am no more vulnerable to disaster than anyone else.

I'm convinced most human beings just want to pay their bills, live in what their society considers adequate comfort, opportunity and security for their families, and something interesting and worthwhile to do with their lives. That's not too much to ask for, and if you've got it, you've got no business complaining.

For those who wealth, power and fame are their only path to self-actualization, I have pity. I don't begrudge them their needs, they are perfectly free to pursue them, as long as they don't interfere with mine.

And of course, that's the rub, isn't it? Very often, their getting what they want means I have to give something up I need.