I believe it was Methodist founder John Wesley(?)who said something like that the very characteristics of righteous living (thrift, industry, self-restraint, etc.) would eventually create enough wealth and leisure time to give birth to the opposite (sloth, greed, decadence, leisure).
The New England Busy-bodies are fallen Puritans. Just look at the UK and the Anglicans. Once the Brits became a success, they became guilty-feeling.