In reply to Brian Fahs.

Wow, this is a great article.

Brian: check out Seligman's work on learned helplessness- if you've worked hard before and not seen any reward, you stop trying (even if a new opportunity presents itself.) This is really common in disadvantaged communities. And "choosing to have less children" is rather in a different ballpark than "choosing to drink and not miss work," no?

I'm not sure how well I'd make it as a Mayan, but I'm pretty sure that just accepting the current circumstances serves them well in a lot of cases where I would be unhappy.