Is it possible to live a good life in a corrupt society?

If by a “good life” it is defined that you feel satisfied with what you have, then I do believe it is possible to live a good life. Nonetheless, this said satisfaction doesn’t have to be a constant emotion rather, if you have a way to find inner peace or something to look forward to, then I think it is indeed a possibility. For instance, if even after a long day of work you’re happy that you get to see your family, then that can be classified as a “good life.” However, is it ethical to live a “good life” when your happiness brings misery to others?

In one of my biology classes, I remember that Amaral had mentioned how in order for you to have food on your plate, there’s someone hungry. That makes me wonder: can we truly be happy knowing that people are suffering in order to fulfill our satisfaction? Just now I was making an arts and craft bracelet and all I could think about was how horrible it must be for the underpaid workers in Asia to do this for a “living.” This also relates to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs because the way I see it is that the in between chunks of the pyramid (safety, love/belonging, esteem), which comprises a lot of society, neglect those in the physiological aspect of the pyramid, which is the base and the grand majority of people. In other words, there seems to be a trend that as we (the middle chunk) try to move towards self-actualization, the ultimate goal for a “good life,” we forget about those inferior to us. For instance, I only thought about those poor under waged workers when I was put in situation that slightly resembled (only the manual work, the environment I was in was completely different). If it weren’t for that, I would continue not acknowledging their existence. So is the saying, “ignorance is bliss” valid because we’re trying to reach the so-called ultimate goal of self-actualization (corresponds to a “good life”), according to Maslow?

On the flip side to this, there are mundane people who have been able to live a really happy life as seen with Mark Boyle who has been living without money since November 2008. Although he found a solution for him to live a good life that doesn’t harm the environment in our corrupt society, by using resources such as beeswax (for lighting) and cuttlefish bone (for a toothbrush) – for instance, he doesn’t think it’s a panacea because if everyone lived like this it would be “a catastrophe.” I do think that what helped him follow this path was his ability to not cling to things, as seen with the Buddhist teachings. And maybe this ambition and desire for things does end up corrupting us, as can be seen with the corruption in the governments where politicians only want more and more. But even so, just this one example already shows how it is indeed possible to live a good life in our corrupt society.