I think the poor = happy meme also comes from people who are poor, resentful, passive-agressive and won't *ask* for what they are worth, they just think it should be given to them. That's an annoying thing I find in CorpWorld. People who think they deserve a big raise (and very well might), but won't *do* anything about it, & just bitterly complain when they get the standard crap raise.
When I got the standard crap raise, I complained & my company told me "Sorry, we don't have more money for you. Better luck next year." So I interviewed around, & had another place offer me to do the same job, for 10k. Took that offer back to my company (2 months after I was told there was no money) & told them to match it or I go. Amazingly enough, suddenly, the money was there, and I got a 10K raise.
That whole situation was stressful as all get-out, because I truly didn't want to leave, but I was NOT being paid what I was worth, & I was willing to put up with the extreme mental discomfort to get to a better place.
On the subject of us being different...sigh, yeah. I know a lot of people that I respect & care about & we can have great conversations about a million different superficial things. But when it comes to life paths...I can't even explain mine, because it's 10 turn-offs from what they expect, and they're not willing to mentally go past 2 turn-offs. It's a little sad, & I don't let it stop me from talking about different aspects of what I want (FIRE, slow travel, freeganism/dumpster diving, tiny homes, small business, no kids, no religion). I try to find the ones that they might be most receptive to, and maybe plant some seeds. Because the thing I see is that these lovely people are *so stressed* by the full-time work, buy a big home, trade-up the home, have cars, have cable, constantly be renovating & improving, buy the right clothes, go to the right church, have the kids, get the kids into the right pre-school, school, college, take the right vacations, and on and on and on. Maybe they don't want an out of ALL of them, but I try to suggest that there are things above & beyond that, & they can be *so much* more enriching.
But it only can come out a wee trickle at a time, or they get overwhelmed.