Perhaps Americans are dissatisfied because they have unreasonably outsized expectations. Our grandparents in the 1950’s were living the American dream in a 1000sq foot house. Today their grand kids expect a +3,000sq foot house or else they whine about how they’re NOT middle-class.
If people in 2005 had simply bought modest 1000sq foot homes on a 20yr fixed mortgage we wouldn’t have had the meltdown in 2008. Instead they bought wave runners, 60″ plasmas and 7.1 surround sounds for their McMansions on adjustable rate loans.
Obviously, its not just America’s waistlines that have expanded but our egos.