The Economist (a magazine that is very pro-business) had an interesting article recently about social psychology experiments that showed that the rich are less able to enjoy the day to day pleasures of life. And this effect also happens among people temporarily made relatively rich (say given $100) or even just shown pictures of money.
The need of our economic system to keep people consuming creates advertising indoctrination that pulls our attention away from what really satisfies: Day to day relationships with other people and the details of our life. Excess wealth is more a matter of aggressively possessing things that other people don't have than enjoying those things for themselves. It leads to an empty narcissism that leaves the rich unsatisfied and without empathy for the victims of their greed. And frustrated and angry and in search of scapegoats.
Maybe you are lucky and have a great in-house job. No shame in that. But there does seem to be something amiss in your happy little world that sends you out gunning for startups. Why the inferiority complex?
I spent 25 years in the corporate world. The money was great but I got tired of the politics and wasted time. Now I have a startup. I am actually inventing new software (semantic web, evolutionary programming) rather than writing another business system. I spend 90% of my time on the meat of programming. I make a good deal less at this point (after 3 years of making even less!!) but I'm 10 times happier.
The need of our economic system to keep people consuming creates advertising indoctrination that pulls our attention away from what really satisfies: Day to day relationships with other people and the details of our life. Excess wealth is more a matter of aggressively possessing things that other people don't have than enjoying those things for themselves. It leads to an empty narcissism that leaves the rich unsatisfied and without empathy for the victims of their greed. And frustrated and angry and in search of scapegoats.