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[–] pitenius ago 

English really needs an inclusive and exlcusive "we". I'm assuming you're an urban American.

Also, I can't think of a society in which the only goal is to be happy. I would say this desire for happiness is actually an oddly American phenomenon: the fruit-eating fishermen I referenced above felt man was born with three debts: heirs, learning and religious rituals. Until these were discharged, there could be no happiness.

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[–] Kookus ago 

The verbiage you're searching for is "greed is the great evil of mankind." Even your happy fishermen have wants and desires: a fishing pole, line, lure, knife, etc. The key is to not allow those wants and desires to drive your every action. If humanity as a whole could throw off the chains of greed, there is nothing we could not accomplish as a species.

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[–] pitenius ago 

From RA Wilson:

I now feel more inclined to accept R. Buckminster Fuller's description of the four major problems confronting the world as "ignorance, fear, greed, and zoning laws." Being untypically brave (like most fools), I always underestimated the role of fear in human affairs; having simple desires, I underestimated greed; and not being an architect, I never grasped the perfidious nature of zoning laws.

FWIW, they're spear fishers. Mostly, they desired liquor and a wet dick, but who doesn't?