Hunger used to be around the corner all the time. That’s exactly the point. For most of human history survival was so hard that people barely had the chance to think about anything else.

But when survival stops being a daily emergency, humans don’t suddenly lose purpose they finally get the room to build one. The fact that people can think about meaning, fairness, or long-term goals today is possible because hunger isn’t breathing down their necks.

If your purpose collapses the moment basic needs are met, that wasn’t a purpose it was survival instinct. Human beings are capable of much more than that once they’re not constantly fighting for food or rent.