re: What motivates people to live above their means?

It is a mystery.

Its been said aplenty, the poor in the USA have luxuries that the world's poor could only dream of.

The root of the problem is simply the "Its all about me" mentality, which leads to a sense of entitlement. Sometimes the entitlement is "the rules don't apply to me" and sometimes the entitlement is "the government owes me."

But the root problem is the same. Narcissism. Very rarely do you see someone who truly thinks of someone else. Even a lot of charitable giving is motivated by self desires. "This will make me look good," or "This will give me a tax deduction."

I'm as guilty as anyone else.