The easiest thing in the world

From June Casagrande:

Kurt Vonnegut changed my life in a few sentences. I don't remember the exact wording but I believe it was in Slaughterhouse Five that Vonnegut wrote about an alien who came to visit planet Earth. The alien reported back to his superiors that Americans were the most miserable people in the galaxy because they're told constantly that getting rich is the easiest thing in the world to do when in fact it's next to impossible. They blame themselves and hate themselves for failing at what's supposed to be the easiest thing in the world.