This is not my experience.

I know people from different walks of life, some severely mentally disabled (Down syndrome etc) that are the most open and cheerful, to millionaires that are stuck in continuous streams of unhappiness and negativity.

Most people one would consider “intelligent“ with university degrees and such I know seem stuck in unhappy relationships and work and negative stress, worried about big and complex topics such as climate change and politics, people one would consider “dumb“ or “plain“ that work as cleaning staff or at supermarkets and such that are fairly happy living their simple lives. They think they are too stupid anyway to understand politics so why even bother with things like that. They’re not chasing personal/career “growth“ and achieving “more“ every day. Those with money can afford luxury goods but it doesn’t seem to make them feel more content that some that get the leftover foods from foodsharing networks. And yes, maybe a factor are things like fairly functional universal healthcare in this country, in terms of basic needs and security.

I know homeless people and also they seem generally happier than, say, the doctors I know. A few cans of beer a day and not-shittiest weather are totally sufficient to make them enjoy the day. They have no bosses that they need to report to, no alarm clocks, no calendar. I may not want to trade places with the “dumb“ or “poor“ but I don’t use my own judgment of their lives to determine if they are okay, I let them speak their own. Yes, I see them make decisions that I consider to be at least suboptimal given their situation, but that is my problem, not theirs.

The homeless/unemployed I know have a strong support network, meet up every day with maybe a dozen equals, very simple interactions, nobody intelligent enough to majorly fuck the other over. And why, if there’s nothing to gain from that. Their problems are simple, day to day, nothing too complex. The millionaires I know have to deal with highly “intelligent“ manipulative people every day, and deal with all sorts of complex bullshit, which understandably can be very exhausting, especially if there is no end in sight. It will go on like that for the rest of their lives. And on top of that unfortunately they are intelligent enough to see that.