People aren’t motivated because work is an endless treadmill. Financial independence a roll of the loaded startup dice. The British model of a financialised economy doesn’t work for the many. Just the rich, like YC VCs. All the questioning “how do you stay motivated “. By retaining your surplus value.
you're going to get downvoted the all the protestant work ethic people that think labor is virtuous per se - "an honest day's work is reward in and of itself" type thing (forgetting or conveniently omitting that these values/virtues were defined by capital not labor). I agree with you and many more would too if they didn't see themselves as "temporarily aggrieved millionaires".
As Iain Banks put it his The Culture universe, "money is a sign of poverty". We're hopefully still in the tricky beginning of a transition phase to a post-scarcity civilization. Just need that fusion reactor to start with...