This was a very heartfelt post, thank you for writing it up. I see a lot of parallels here in the way my parents thought about me and my siblings growing up.
I think the issue though is one of trajectory. It seems like more and more people are struggling to make it. The thought of working extra to pay for something nice is fading somewhat as working “extra” becomes a necessity just to afford food and housing. There’s a huge upsurge of people going into debt currently via financing their groceries for example.
We should develop robust safety nets to prevent this. We have the resources to make decent groceries and shelter available to everyone. We need to push back hard against every attempt to resist making it actually happen
Well, if you’re feeling philosophical I think you’d first need to address your presupposition that life has or is meant to have any meaning whatsoever.
Like, according to who? And how did they determine that? Would you be sad if it turns out there isn’t any underlying meaning?