Well for sure it's harder in this day and age because you are exposed to so many people who appear to be successful and/or flawless (repeat 'appear'). Generally

Well for sure it's harder in this day and age because you are exposed to so many people who appear to be successful and/or flawless (repeat 'appear'). Generally prior to the internet at least when I was growing up not the case. Like I am sure my dad never lost any sleep over how rich Howard Hughes was (the de facto billionaire of our day). There was of course variations of 'the rich guy in the neighborhood' [1] but you could normally identify flaws in them to make yourself feel better about why our house was smaller or your car was less expensive. [1] As it happens that guy in particular who bought his 16 year old son an expensive car (for that time period) ended up in bankruptcy.