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I think people essentially desire safety and security.
Western-style lifestyles seem to offer that, but it's impossible to predict whether it can be maintained over time because it has existed for such a short amount of time. How long can indifferent complacency last as a lifestyle? I would think it depends on the foundation and perceived security of the society overall...and that doesn't happen overnight. And in my own opinion, I think that our own standards of living are not manageable for our own country, let alone the entire world...but that's another discussion.
I used to think kind of the same thing, though. That once people had 'something to lose,' they wouldn't be so eager to piss it all away...but then I realized that everyone does have something to lose and they are willing to sacrifice it for what they believe in and often we are the ones trapped by our circumstances. I can understand that point of view, at least.
I go back and forth on it.
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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce
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