Thank you for this.

I am a 52-year-old who has already consciously been trying hard to withdraw from the fray, but I have never had the context that you provide.

I have thought for a long time, working in "customer service", that people's behavior is out of control. People act like the sky is going to collapse if you put ketchup on their sandwich when they specifically said no ketchup, or something like that. With the context that you have given I now understand the behavior of this mad mass of consumers a little better.

I have come to the realization recently that maybe the most important first step for me personally--and maybe for many other people--is to completely rid my life of consumer debt. Being debt-free will probably be when the real freedom from the destructive patterns that you discuss begins.

If you think about it, if the leaders of the world with the power to do so suddenly announced that all debt everywhere is forgiven it would probably free all 8 billion of us to embrace the post-ego way that you describe. From entire African countries to individual households in rich countries, almost all of us are hamstrung by debt. Working more, producing more stuff, trying to increase our incomes, and trying to ease the stress with luxury goods is a vicious cycle that financial debt probably has many of us in. The hard work and long process of a vegan diet won't help you cope right now like a visit to the neighborhood barbecue joint that has a special today on ribs. Trying a new labor-intense hobby like gardening won't make you forget about your economic woes like another night of Netflix.

So, yeah, we know that we need to change, but many of us won't. For some of us who are already trying, it is a major struggle.

Getting out of debt and forcing oneself to find things to do that don't have a price and can't be bought with money would probably be a good start for many people.

I hope that this post-ego thing catches on and grows, because not only will it possibly solve a lot of problems, it will possibly result in a lot more happiness spread out among many more people.