Tuesday's Beijing Evening News published a profile of a 35-year-old local resident named Wu Hao, whose monthly income had soared 16 times in 10 years, from 1,200 yuan (US$192) to about 20,000 yuan now.

Wu was himself a little startled by this explosive growth, after checking the salary slips he kept over the decade.

Towards the end of the story, we see a Wu who appears quite content and sanguine.

"Yes, prices have been soaring in recent years, but on the whole, my family life has been happy in its modest way. True, we did not make a big fortune as some have, but we are down-to-earth, and our life is getting better and better," Wu was quoted as saying.

Is Wu really as happy as he asserts? We do not know, except that Wu does not appear to be an easily satisfied person, for he had worked for four employers in the past decade, apparently driven by the instinct of having more.

Here I was put in mind of a documentary I saw recently, produced by a team of cameramen searching for signs of snow leopards in the Himalayas region in Nepal.

After trekking in the mountain range for many days they came upon an isolated dwelling, where an elderly woman and her granddaughter were basking in the sunshine against a wall, both wearing tattered traditional dress, their faces ruddy from strong ultraviolet light at high elevations.

In summing up the scene, the scriptwriter explained, "The elderly woman has been leading this life of poverty all her life."

As we know, "poverty" is a word that can be charitably bestowed on any people today who do not yet enjoy such modern amenities as air-conditioners, cars, iPads and Internet access.

What is less obvious is that the elderly woman and the kid could enjoy the sunshine and open air in all her contentment in the mountain precisely because her native appreciation of nature had not yet been vitiated by modern comforts, or spoilt by the myriad electronic gadgets constantly shouting about her wants and deprivations.

Modern politicians have successfully reduced human life into a few economic metrics, notably "standard of living."

These metrics are believed to be good predictors of the feeling of happiness.

This assumption is deeply flawed, informed by a distorted perception of the human mind and psyche.

In his "The Psychology of Wealth: Understand Your Relationship with Money and Achieve Prosperity" (McGraw-Hill, 2012), author Charles Richards tries to investigate the human relationship with money.

Why do some people feel a perpetual state of lack and fear about money, while others feel genuinely prosperous, regardless of the size of their bank accounts?

"Psychology of wealth can be learned in childhood through the values we are taught - not just from the size of our home or the neighborhood we live in. These values are about achievement, inner strength, and belief in oneself," observes Richards.

These observations are by no means original to people reared on Confucian tenets, which are first of all about how to live frugally but responsibly.

New values

Yan Hui, for instance, was one of the disciples most commended by Confucius.

"Incomparable indeed was Hui! A handful of rice to eat, a gourdful of water to drink, living in a mean street. Others would have found it unendurably depressing, but to Hui's cheerfulness it made no difference at all ..." mused the sage.

But modern "progress" is based on greed and the urge to acquire more than your neighbors, because unlimited economic growth can only be sustained by aspiration for material things totally irrelevant to rational, real-life needs.

So when China embarked on market-oriented reform in the early 1980s, it could not but have been spearheaded by an ideological liberalization characterized by affirmation of the individual pursuit of profits.

It took decades of the persistent drumbeat for wealth to overcome our native distrust of wealth.

Today, wealth - regardless of how it is accumulated - can be so ennobling that anyone in possession of wealth exacts our respect.

I was recently told of a boy who did not perform quite well and thus was a sort of an outcast in a kindergarten, being often the butt of jokes of his class.

On one occasion he invited some classmates to a party at his home in an expensive villa, and since then he found his position considerably improved, with many classmates going out of their way to befriend him.

Commenting on this, the mother of another child who happens to be in the same class said that "even children are getting snobbish these days."

In a more charitable frame of mind, she might conclude that today's children, as children in the past, are easily influenced in their outlook and values by their family, school, media, and society at large.

We are witnessing the emergence of a new generation who are hypersensitive to advertisements, ready to grab money, and readier to spend.

Social influences

They are exemplary citizens in economic terms that are inheriting the earth. Future policy makers would no longer need to worry about expanding domestic demand.

Ancient Chinese sages as a rule mentioned wealth - even honestly earned wealth - with great reservation, because approving of wealth would easily lead to a society of losers.

By contrast, with proper upbringing, everyone can aspire to be a loyal subject, a filial son, a loving father, or a trustworthy neighbor.

Material success is always elusive, so it needs to be sweetened by the vision that given perseverance and hard work, everyone can "make it."

That vision of success sounds particularly hollow today in the plain realization that riches tend to favor the bankers, real estate developers, mine owners, and the well-connected, rather than honest work.

The gossip of the nation this week is the revelation that 61-year-old real estate tycoon Wang Shi is dating a 31-year-old actress.

When another real estate celebrity, Pan Shiyi, poked fun at Wang, it was revealed that Pan himself had a seven-year-old illegitimate daughter.

Do we presume these people to be exemplary in their moral conduct? Certainly not.

But they have money, and money has irresistible appeal, even as we witness the corrosive influence of easy money and what it can buy: sex, drugs, and liquor. Easy come, easy go.

Richards cites the US Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards as saying that nearly one-third of all lottery winners end up losing it all.

In one instance, 29-year-old Shefik Tallmadge won US$6.7 million in jackpot. After he lost every penny, he observed that "they gave me enough money to get into trouble, but not enough money to make me rich."

The book is also rich in stories of people who have faced adversity with courage and created extraordinary lives.

Through these examples Richards provides the insight and tools needed for people to build a healthy relationship with money and achieve a fulfilling life.