For a person devoid of the material comforts that distract the rest of us from the inherent diminishment of becoming mere consumer-spectators in the great order of things, a certain threshold of tolerability tends to be crossed.

This is despite the fact that in material terms, his standard of living may actually be higher than most of the world has ever enjoyed--including his own native country, if he happens to come from someplace else. (To give just one example, even today, what percentage of the world's population owns any kind of car, even an undependable old one?)

Instead, what renders this person's position intolerable is the sense of insignificance--the lack of any meaningful or valued position, in the larger social order of things--that all of his direct material circumstances instill in him, especially when he compares himself to the world "on the other side of the screen" which now constitutes his primary frame of reference.

Human nature being resilient, he or his offspring will ultimately tend to find ways of dealing with the diminishment. Unfortunately, some of these are not to the rest of society's liking.