When Thomas Jefferson determined the “pursuit of happiness” to be one of humankind’s unalienable rights, he could not have foreseen the consequences of dangling this elusive proverbial carrot under the noses of subsequent generations. For the average proponent of free market economics, and by extension the average consumer, this phrase is synonymous with the accumulation of capital. If this notion were rooted in truth, one would expect the beneficiaries of the most successful marketplace in history – the American middle-class – to be living in a veritable state of pure ecstasy.