All good things to keep in mind, but the comparison here was with the wealthy of past eras. I often see the statement taken to extremes, saying that a poor pers

All good things to keep in mind, but the comparison here was with the wealthy of past eras. I often see the statement taken to extremes, saying that a poor person in a first world country today is better off than an ancient king. And in many ways, it’s absolutely true! But in other ways it’s not. My main point is that wealth is as much about power as it is about possessions, and when it comes to power, your relative wealth is all that matters.