I find your piece really pertinent, just as much as what is poor we need to figure out what is rich . Some places with lower inequality have a largly poor population but asked if they are unhappy, they often refer to satisfaction from being part of a community . In terms of being rich, there’s the question of how much debt you’re living in and factoring that in to the perception of wealth . Where for instance someone in the US may look wealthy, a person from a European country like Germany or France may look less wealthy just because their credit markets are different . In the US credit is a lot more acceptable and accessible than in some European countries . Now with global social media as you write , I wonder if this has spiked interest in youmlng people to live beyond their means