Making everything about money turns out to have been super bad for society.

As in we seem to treat money as the ultimate form of success. Sure, we pay lip service to other things, but in reality we don't really acknowledge other accomplishments on the same level.

You see it in the way the culture sector is expected to make a profit, rather than the goal being to make culture. Much like healthcare - you put money in and get a healthy population out. It's not supposed to make money!

I'm thinking that if a successful career as a politician was based more around improving our society, rather than being a great way to make pots of cash, then the goal would be to have a memorable (positive!) career in politics.

Putting money on a pedestal is such a fucking lie. It's essentially a boiled down version of the classic advertising lie - "Buy this thing and you will be happier" (perhaps not stated as such but that's the general pitch). Satisfaction and contentment isn't something that can be achieved by ticking a box - it's a journey and a learned way of framing one's life. There's plenty of ways to spend money to reduce negatives, and money can definitely lubricate the gears of life towards happiness, but ticking the boxes won't actually unlock those things.

You don't wake up one morning after achieving whatever tickbox and suddenly become a different person.
"I've got my PhD, now I'm satisfied with life!"

Doesn't work like that! You can't flip a switch in your brain and change the way you've been interpreting your situation.

It'd be lovely if it did work like that, so I can see why it's so easy to get people to buy into it. It's an easy answer to a difficult question.

Instead I think we need people chasing after different needs. The need to make a positive difference (and be known for it), to make a contribution to our culture, etc.. There's a bit of ego about it but that's humans for you. Use that lever for good!