“If there was no scarcity, we could all work on self-improvement and higher things.”
If this were true, you would devote yourself to self-improvement and higher things now.
From the perspective of most humans in history, the average American lives in a post-scarcity world. Food and shelter almost never have to be thought about. Especially for the first 20 or so years of life.
Yet people still strive, work, envy, and desire.
This would remain even if all material wants could be satisfied with the push of a button.
Time is scarce. Space is scarce. You can only be in one place at one time. You can only be in the presence of those you want to be with when they also want to be with you at that same time.
This is enough for an economy, exchange, and inequality.
You can’t escape it. What it means to be a living individual is to be scarce and to live within a reality of scarcity. You cannot separate scarcity from human experience. The absence of scarcity is non-existence.
It doesn’t matter if it’s money, attention, or status – it will always take work to accumulate what others value in order to exchange it for what you value.
Rather than longing for escape, learn to do it earnestly and take joy in the process.