Happiness and Utility

No, I don't mean the telephone or cable. We're now investigating Utilitarianism; specifically, we're reading a section from John Stuart Mill. Our reading includes his famous quip: "It is better to be a man dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied." In our present consumerist society, I have doubts as to how saleable this position is, currently. "Have it your way"; "I did it my way"; and so on. Virtue just isn't on the agenda of those who are selling us on how wonderful we really are.