Having enough to eat is having enough to eat: it doesn't matter if someone else eats in a fancy restaurant.
Edit: status is relative - if everyone else has a Ferrari, and I only have a Fiat, I probably feel poorer. However, I still have a car that is better, faster, and safer than anything that existed 100 years ago.
Edit#2: the above is one reason that worrying about what you have in an objective sense is a lot healthier than worrying about status/relative wealth.
Thanks for the edit. I understand what you mean - but then wealth is relative to your neighbour. In which case I don't understand how everyone in 1800s or today can be wealthy.
Edit: status is relative - if everyone else has a Ferrari, and I only have a Fiat, I probably feel poorer. However, I still have a car that is better, faster, and safer than anything that existed 100 years ago.
Edit#2: the above is one reason that worrying about what you have in an objective sense is a lot healthier than worrying about status/relative wealth.