Life is Sweeter When Less Means More
A modest, humble life does not mean a poor life. It can be rich, except not in the capital sense (if you reach true happiness, you're already rich). Earlier today phones were mentioned; can we judge the wealth of a person based on the cost/brand of a phone? Should we? Does the brand imply/indicate this person's social status? Maybe only in his/her own mind? Same question, but for cars... or homes... or planes... or yachts.
How much capital gain does one person need to pursue anyway? As noted moments ago, RMS accomplished a lot on shoestring budget and awards he received (some had monetary aspects to them). RMS need not worry about renewing car insurance, "upgrading" some "smart" "phone" or working hard to pay a mortgage. He can focus on what matters to him and what he is good at.
To me, curating links and writing articles in several sites (it will be more than 8,000 this year) is probably best use of time and foremost contribution to society. In order to do this I need to cover very basic expenses. To me, in my life, less is more. Less things to worry about means more time spent on what I love and enjoy.
People need to think "small", not "big" (as in capital). If it's difficult, that's probably due to peer pressure, which gets amplified in social control media and advertising. █
Image source: Chocolate