It’s funny, because I was poor in the early 80s and had absolutely none of these things — in fact, we didn’t have a TV at all — but we were far richer than many poor people are today, because my net value hovered between $0 and $300 or so and never went negative (except for informal loans from friends for a few bucks till payday), because the cost of medicine was nothing, because I could afford to pay to go to university from a part-time job (which was why I was so broke).

It turns out that color TVs and consumer junk don’t make you rich. Food security makes you rich. Not owing people money makes you rich. The ability to get an education so you have a future without having to mortgage that future makes you rich. Hope for the future is what makes you truly rich.