“Status can also be achieved by and is directly intertwined with power. That status/power is much more important for most people than money can be seen by the fact that wealthy men will leave their money-generating activities for years to enter “public service,” where the direct monetary rewards are contemptible (by their standards), but their status shoots up tremendously. They will even spend tens of millions of their own money to acquire political office, showing very clearly that money is a means to the end of status for most people, not the other way around.”
You are mostly correct, but I disagree that “That status/power is much more important for most people”. I think the people that it is important for are a minority. A majority do not even want the status and power of being a supervisor or boss. The hassle is not worth it to them.
But, that small minority that does crave status and power is far more than enough to be extremely dangerous.
I agree that direct power over others is probably a minority obsession. However, acquiring money is the primary way of acquiring status in our society, with power a partially separate but far more direct route to status.
My contention is that status, as such, is the primary driver behind a desire for “more.” More, larger, more powerful, shinier stuff. All ways of displaying and thereby acquiring status relative to others. Pecking order, if you will.
What’s the first question asked when two people meet? What do you do? We then immediately rank ourselves on probable education, housing, wealth, etc. Status.
Take the man with $10B. What could he possibly buy with $20B that he couldn’t with $10B? Can a desire for more stuff motivate him to keep working hard? Nope. But he can move up on the Forbes ranking of the World’s Wealthest Men. Status.