Well, there's a few problems with that assessment and it makes a lot of assumptions. One would be that you're richer friends had enough control to enact the kind of change you'd want to see. It takes a village to raise a child, the same way it would take the whole business sector to raise living standards.(let's not even get into what real standards should look like and what's actually luxury, I'm looking at you single-use plastics) The 2nd, I'd say is that you're still stuck in the capitalist mindset yourself, and I don't blame you since it's thrown in your face everywhere you look. What I mean by this, is that you're equating your own value to others. It's the main arguement people use against minimum wage. "Someone doing X can't get paid more because they'd be making the same as Y". Having worked independently, I'd imagine you understand how priceless your time can be, but it also highly depends on how you use it. So you're value comes from yourself, and not because of others' value. You often see this when someone finds out a coworker is making more than they are, and they'll complain about it, but never actually assessing what they do that would be of more value. Time and education doesn't always equate to more skill. And lastly, for me personally, I live within my means, and have been fortunate to not be struck with bad health. I've taken many steps in the past decade to reduce my living costs so I live debt free on a very average wage for my area. I often see my peers complain, but they're driving newer cars, have a hige cellular plan, commute far to work, eat out multiple times a week, and in just all-around spend what little capital they have frivolously. Would it be nice if everyone could have the newest things? Sure. But as I've also noticed, I tend to repair and reuse most things I can. I know someone who just brought their car in to replace a headlight bulb, and a particularly easy model to change. 5 minutes of research could have saved them a hefty expense. So I'm in this sub because I still advocate for change, but since that isn't going to happen overnight, I make due with what I got, and I'm fortunate it's enough for me and my family. That's all that really matters in the end. Also, I quit smoking and drinking, that saved me about $3-$4k a year, that's another luxury I couldn't afford, and I don't know why anyone would want to anymore.