It’s not the same as being rich.
Rich is always relative. Compared to your great-grandparents, we’re impossibly, supernaturally rich. We have access to information and technology that was unimagined a century ago. At the same time, compared to someone ten miles away or ten years in the future, we’re way behind.
Two people with precisely the same resources and options might answer the question of ‘rich’ completely differently. Because money is a story.
The neighborhood or industry or peer group you choose has a lot to do with whether you’re relatively rich or not.
After a stock market adjustment, billionaires give less to charity. They still have more money than they can count, but they’re not as rich as they used to be, and not-as-rich is easy to interpret as not rich.
Which means that for many people, feeling rich is a choice.
If that choice encourages us to be imperious, selfish and a bully, it’s probably best to avoid it.
On the other hand, if choosing to see our choices, chances and privileges as a path toward generosity, long-term thinking and connection, we can do it right now.