So many thoughts about your post, it gets one thinking. One thing I like to add is the effect of population size. Like you said people always seem to look for some kind of categorization, some kind of identifier of how you and the other compare on the social ladder. I would say that with so many people around us we don't have the mental capacity or time to judge others (at least, outside our direct social circle) by their worth as an individual, their ideas or their integrity. We've grasped the easiest thing at hand, their job. With that comes the notion that if you have a job with high social status and pay, that you will automatically be happy.
Impressive post @itchykitten.
mhmmm, yes, interesting angle!
This situation always reminds me of dogs with a nice bone, you get some dogs that just always want what the other ones have. Doesn't really matter what it is. Seems to me that in a funny way, money is just that essence of 'otherness'. It's something ELSE. And as I'm writing that, it also seems not entirely valid, in that we often times need money to maintain our current existence. Maybe it's more noticeable in those that can never get enough money...they always need more.