Therein precisely is a HUGE problem. I was nearly homeless, then made more money than I could have ever imagined. I turned into a monster. 9 cars (yes, all for me) and other stupid crap that I'm ashamed even to recall now.
Come to think of it, some of my buddies who made it out of the ghetto did the same thing, at first. It does take a while of being "secure" that the money isn't going to be taken away, before you start to think the way the author does. It's when you're surrounded by stuff and your life still feels empty. When you realize most the rappers were sellout pieces of garbage who, during the daytime socialize with the dentists they live next to if they can and rarely rap about how crappy a life surrounded with material wealth can also be.
Fortunately, knowing a couple of billionaires helps. I sat down with one and expressed my frustration in how I felt and how I had slowly but surely become someone I never really aspired be. It was at this point in my life it suddenly hit me. I'd known this guy for a while and had never seen him flaunt his money like I did (and he had a lot more of it than me). Then he told me that money for him is a tool. If you start using it to become a "consumer", you become consumed by it. He is not just free to do whatever, because in some way that is selfish too. Rather he uses his money to help others and makes the most positive changes in the world that he can. I know that's true because it's not just his money but he actually devoted, the much more precious commodity, of time, to his philanthropic efforts. Efforts he started when he had money like me, except he decided early on to give his away rather than spend it on himself.
It doesn't take a lot of money to be free. I live off less than a 1/3 of what I was before and have a few more in my family now (I was single before). I work with some amazing people and am trying to work on making things better for others on a daily basis. One non-profit I help out from time to time has been tackling the issue of homeless families (not substance abuse or psychiatric issue related, primarily economic issues), and not surprisingly, it's often about the parents' attitude towards money. It would be nice if they felt "secure" enough to understand that money won't buy happiness and were frugal by choice. It would really help if more people had the luxury to have the author's opinions, but thanks to culture/advertising or whatever, there's a large contingent of people who need to think about money differently but don't.