Ecclesiastes 4

Solomon continues his theme that human wisdom without revelation is confusion and madness. He next points out that, as bad as life is without the Word of God, it can only get worse when you consider how humans interact, or refuse to interact.
Look at how oppression is so common. Solomon refers here to personal oppression, human meanness, not simply the casual disregard of others. What can you do when someone has the power over you and delights in your suffering? Without revelation offering a purpose for bearing up under such things, it would be better to lay down and die. Indeed, it’s better we don’t let other humans be born in such a horrible world.
Why do we see so many people struggling for things out of simple envy? It’s a moving target; you’ll never arrive at satisfaction. What a rotten way to live. It’s as bad as doing nothing and expecting others to carry you. Eat your own flesh, lazy man. Still, with only human wisdom, you’ll never find reason for producing more than you can use. You’ll never care to save up enough to share because it seems so pointless.
Then again, when your life is consumed with greed, how do you live? You isolate yourself; you can’t trust anyone at all. You withdraw from family and friends because you don’t want to share. What happens when you need something your wealth can’t buy? Who is going to care when you fall, or you feel cold and lonely? Who will defend you when someone stronger comes to take your stuff? Human wisdom doesn’t understand the parable of the triple stranded rope, a hint that God didn’t make us to live alone. Again, without revelation to guide your understanding of reality, you’ll never come up with anything that works.
Solomon draws on sarcasm, mocking himself. Better is someone who is ambitious and hungry, because he will listen to advice from those who have succeeded. The man who has lived long and thinks he has arrived at the top won’t listen to anyone. The king is prisoner of his own status, while the peasant lad has nothing to lose, and is free to explore everything in the kingdom. No matter who you are, someone is going to take your place. Despite all the social rituals and monuments of past rulers, how can anyone love the man himself, since they can’t actually know him?
If all you have is human wisdom, all of this is pointless.