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Reminds me of this bit from an interview with Jimmy Carr.
I think Jimmy's right. Personally I think Maslow's pyramid is backwards, it's exactly the struggle for the bottom tier that fills out the top as a consequence.
In a world where the ground levels of Maslow's hierarchy (physiological needs and safety) are not a given you absolutely need your peers to attain them. Love, esteem and self-actualization follow from it; you work together to achieve a goal and by achieving it you gain connection, (self) respect and the ability to live in accordance with your nature.
Ironically, by having all of your needs taken care of almost by default, life becomes devoid of meaning. We are robbed of the ability to gain self-reliance; any and all prerequisites that deliver what takes care of your needs are outside of our control entirely. How well we are off is mostly a matter of things like happenstance of birth, the current economy, the decisions the company you work for makes, whether or not the bank approves you for a loan, gas prices, food prices, electricity prices, none of which you have any control over.
Before the industrial revolution life was not a cake walk. Even basic things like having enough to eat, basic medical care, clothes, warmth and light were HARD to come by, but it's the struggle that makes it worth it. I realize I'm saying this as a white, heterosexual, pudgy, Western European male. In terms of material and societal wealth I might as well have won the lottery.
In terms of the meaning I find in my life I have lost.
Yeah but you can still pursue other goals. Help a charity or work on an important project with people and the meaning is there. It's just not forced on you as part of surviving anymore