&gt;There are lots of reasons for this but the root cause is our economic system seems fundamentally opposed with our psychological needs as human beings.

Hear hear. I'm nearing my thirties and right about the time I turned 25, the realization that the majority of the rest of my life would be dedicated to punching clocks hit me pretty hard. I thought that particular malady was a "me" problem--and to a certain extent it is--but after talking with a bunch of people both my age and older I realized that no, this is just the way life is for a lot of us.