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I recently read an article that really made me sit back, pause, and think. While I have no real way of validating this statistic, apparently I’m one of the wealthiest one percent of people in the entire world. This is according to findings by the asset manager UBS (formerly Credit Suisse) in their latest Global Wealth Report.
This blows my mind. I’m just a regular guy with no airs and graces about me, who likes a bit of “craic” and a Guinness with a few friends. It speaks volumes about the massive disparity and advantages those of us in reasonably affluent Western first-world nations enjoy. And yet, we complain…a lot. Maybe we should practice some gratitude and mindfulness for the privileged lives we have? Let’s take a few examples of this somewhat unnoticed wealth and how it enables us in life.
We complain about the ever-increasing cost of tertiary learning, but millions of young people in poorer nations dream of having the opportunity for this privilege. The very opportunity to pursue such an education, even at a secondary level, remains an unattainable dream—a pathway out of poverty they can only long for. This stark contrast underscores the immense advantage we often take for granted. For us, it’s a financial hurdle; for the vast majority, it’s a wishful dream that will never be fulfilled. The privilege of learning is a blessing.
Another big one that comes to mind is our world-class health systems. We understandably complain about the cost, but for millions globally, such care—from emergency services to advanced treatments—is a distant dream. It’s often entirely unavailable or prohibitively expensive, leading to mothers breaking their hearts from the loss of a beautiful child, all for the want of a simple antibiotic. Our advantage is stark and disturbing.
Can we have a better democratic society than we currently experience? I’m sure it’s very possible within reason, but we still complain about the systems of government we have. I think I can state without a doubt that millions dream of, fight for, and perish in pursuit of the very basic democratic freedoms and political stability that we take for granted. We have privileged lives.
The examples are endless: from the simple ability to switch on a light without fear of a blackout, to the freedom to express our opinions without reprisal, or even choosing what we eat. These aren’t just conveniences; they are advantages that shape our daily existence in ways we rarely appreciate. I’ve won the geographical lottery, and so have you. There’s no need to complain about that.
You might be wondering what this essay is all about, and to be honest, I’m not entirely sure. I don’t think it’s about guilt. If anything, it’s probably about perspective and recognizing that my struggles and yours are real but exist within a framework of underlying advantages that others can only dream of. Maybe I think we should have a deeper sense of gratitude for the opportunities we take for granted. I’m not really sure, but knowing my elevated position in the 1% club is an enlightening experience.
Perhaps the next time I complain about a minor inconvenience, I’ll try to pause and consider that my “inconvenience” might be an unimaginable luxury for many millions around the world. I’m only one person and don’t have any ability to change the world, but I can, at the very least, acknowledge my privileged position. This position was achieved in part through my own hard work and financial discipline, but most of all, through the lucky break of birth. It isn’t much to offer, but it’s a start.
I tell my kids this all the time, and urge them to give back / pay forward whenever possible. I have seen desperate poverty, and it is horrendous.
hi
You may have a privileged life, but many millions in the US do not. You 1%’ers may have great healthcare, but the US system lags behind many other nations when it comes to covering citizens. We do not have the best healthcare system in then world. The current administration is looking to dismantle The ACA and millions will be hurt. Freedom of speech is being challenged as you write this. Yes, we have supermarkets, but many cannot afford to shop in them. Come on, you are looking at it as if everyone has what you have. Many Americans live as poorly as those in other countries, and it is getting worse under this administration. No, you cannot express your opinion without reprisal. See Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel. The US is going backwards, and you only see what you, as a 1%er, has. Look at what others do not have. You mention children elsewhere dying for need of a simple antibiotic. Well, RFK and his cohorts are doing their best to see we become an unvaccinated country, which will lead to many of the same problems other countries tries have. So, what exactly is your inconvenience you are writing about?
Compared to many places in the world, I’d suggest that every American lives a somewhat privileged life.
Certainly, knowing what we each know, we may decide that some other places may be better for us. However, the U.S. is a large and diverse country with freedom to travel and relocate.
I’ve lived in very small communities, upscale suburbs and very large and smaller cities. One challenge is developing an appetite and a skill set that allows us to use that freedom to choose.
I can truthfully state that everywhere I have lived has had imperfections, and there have been dissatisfied residents, too.
I think you’ve completely missed the point of my essay. This wasn’t about America or American politics – it was about discovering my position in global wealth distribution and what that means for perspective.
The UBS Global Wealth Report doesn’t care about your feelings about the current administration or healthcare policy debates. It’s measuring wealth against the entire world – including the 3.4 billion people living on less than $5.50 per day. When you’re complaining about supermarket prices, remember that 828 million people worldwide don’t have enough food, period.
Your examples actually prove my point perfectly. You mention Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel facing “reprisal” – they’re millionaires with massive platforms criticizing the government on national television every night. In half the world, they’d be imprisoned or dead. That you can even frame their situation as oppression shows exactly the kind of perspective problem I was writing about.
Yes, some Americans struggle with healthcare and food costs. But struggling with costs means having systems to struggle with. It means emergency rooms that can’t legally turn you away, food banks, Medicaid, social workers, legal protections, and democratic processes to change things. Billions of people have none of that.
This isn’t about minimizing American problems – fix them all if you can. But when I talk about pausing before complaining about inconveniences, this response is exactly what I mean. The inability to see beyond our immediate circumstances, even when we’re discussing global wealth inequality, is precisely the perspective shift I was exploring.
Mark – thanks for this. I often remark, especially to my wife, how lucky I am. Yes, I worked hard to accomplish some “stuff” during my career, but it was aided by life’s circumstances. I’m indeed fortunate, and that good fortune has branches in many directions – health, finances, family, geography, social engagement, etc.
Good perspective and nice article, Mark. Thank you for sharing!
Economic envy / resentment is expressed by different labels in different cultures. The label “one percenter” is only popular since the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011. It refers to vast wealth by the few, and it has not been tranlated for adoption in non-Western countries.
Asians more likely resent the power transfer among families, thus out of reach for the rest. Some local terms for the elite class include:
Viet Nam: “con ông cháu cha,” literally translated as offspring of powerful (grand)parent.
China: “fù èr dài,” or second-generation rich, the ultra-wealthy benefiting from first generation fortune and connection.
South Korea: Chaebol or Wealth Clan is common. The newer slang is Gangnam Style, or “Gold Spoon”
Quan, thanks for those terms. Two popular labels in the US are “silver spoon” and “lucky sperm”.
Or Buffet “the ovarian lottery.”
That’s one I never heard before.
Thank you, Mark, for this reminder, and for your own solution to reflect on the immense luxuries that surround us everyday.
All of us in the US have an extreme amount of public luxury with which we can participate if we choose. Not a single nickel is required to visit public parks, admire public works of art, travel through neighborhoods generally safer than most of the world’s, participate in open festivals or movie nights or sports leagues organized by local parks and rec departments or local nonprofits. No money is required to visit a supermarket and ponder the astounding array of breakfast cereals that relatively open markets and a bent toward capitalism has produced (and after looking at all them, I can go home and eat a simple bowl of oatmeal for my own breakfast, which even with the recent run of inflation is still not too expensive.)
Is it harder for those in our nation who are disfavored, or sick? Of course. Must some navigate something of an environmental or criminal or political wasteland to get to these free things? Yes. But most still can go to a public library where they can watch and read and mostly check out much of the world’s creative production of the past couple millennia. And much public money is spent each day to provide a pretty dang big social safety net. (Consider the pivot to a “community school” model in many urban areas, where many public services are provided into neighborhoods, no questions asked.)
It’s a complex reflection, one’s wealth and poverty, absolute and relative. Related to money, opportunity, health, and other metrics.
People interested might review the Supplemental Poverty Measure https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R45031
or the Census’s vocabulary of poverty page.
https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty/about/glossary.html
Beyond these intellectual rabbit holes, there’s the universe of our personal experiences and many of those are shared in the comments, most particularly the value one may derive by direct experience of the rest of the world’s living standards.
We live in a time where many are vociferous about what they believe is wrong, what is owed whom, and what changes ought to be taken to improve matters towards achieving this or that end which its advocates believe would be better. For the most part, I doubt much of this activity is increasing personal wealth, autonomy or happiness. But I pay my taxes and make my donations in time and money, and hope for the best.
All of this sits in stark contrast to the particulars of the life we have been extolling this week, our friend, mentor, teacher, advisor Jonathan Clements, who in his last year relished some travel (still reluctant to upgrade to business class) and many sunny moments in his garden with friends and family.
In addition to losing Jonathan, many on HD are at an age where we periodically experience the loss of others in our circle of friends and acquaintances. Reflecting on how these people have lived their lives, we can see anew how we compare and what corrections may be warranted to make the most of the time and money that remain to us.
How can we be grateful enough? Where’s the moment when we’ve given our fair share to reduce the disparity, and have enough for ourselves? Should we even try to do so, ethically? Tracy Kidder’s book on Paul Farmer, Mountains Beyond Mountains, provides Dr. Farmer’s answer. But that is a rare level of mindful living.
Here Mark. Check this out for a proper sandwich https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=harold%27s%20new%20york%20deli&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5#ebo=0
Oh my goodness. That’s just a heart attack masquerading as a sandwich!
We tend to measure ourselves against our immediate neighbors. If everyone you know is well-off, being well-off is considered normal. For US retirees, the 1% club consists of those with over $15 million. Yeah, those people are really rich, I’m just a regular middle-class guy.
Yes, the net worth of the Upper Middle Class is $2 million or less.
You can be in the top 5% with about $1.17 million according to Forbes.
Complaints are an acknowledgement that our systems, however good they are, could be better. Our health care is best in the world – if one has good insurance. There are many in the US that have no health care unless they go to the emergency room and/or are bankrupted by health care bills. This situation is entirely avoidable while still maintaining a world class health care system. I lived overseas 23 years and have seen the good/bad/ugly. We should be grateful for what we have, but never complacent. The idea that “the US is always best” does a disservice to ourselves. Be thankful, but but never stop raging against the machine…..
“Our healthcare is best in the world.” really?
The 2024 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey found the US ranked 10th overall (dead last) in health system performance compared to Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom,
Lastly, in health outcomes, the US ranked 10th, with the highest rates of preventable deaths and a lower-than-average life expectancy, further exacerbated by the opioid crisis and gun violence.
We compare ourselves to our neighbors. I’ve live in or immediately adjacent to NYC most of my life. My feelings of wealth, my sense of wealth, are skewed. But intellectually I know I’m wealthy. Depending on whether we include age, race, gender, or household vs individual, I rank somewhere between 84% and 94% for Americans. But these numbers don’t explain how I feel, and this has a lot to do with the situations I’m in. Am I walking down Fordham Road on a summer Saturday afternoon or sitting in a first class plane seat (free upgrade, I knew how to ask nicely and got lucky) listening to the far wealthier women next to me talking about their conspicuous spending? And looking at the situation worldwide raises especially uncomfortable questions about how the wealth system we have was defined and how we continue to enforce it. Is it fair that we have so much more wealth, and what does it mean that we don’t feel wealthly in our local situation, the reality we live every day?
Regarding two small points in the article, we are losing the freedom to express our opinions without reprisal. Part of feeling wealthy has been the privilege of free speech which has expanded greatly since the 1960s. In a matter of months we’ve lost a lot of this and we are destined to lose more. For many people, this loss has also been a loss of monetary wealth.
Similarly, during my lifetime we’ve had an explosion of food choices, at least for those of us with money. Whereas the curtailment of speech is already well underway, my expectation that food choices will drop is only a prediction at this point. What choices we have left will require spending more, taking a bite out of our wealth.
My first culture shock might have been a ham sandwich in Ireland. It had one slice of ham with butter. Get the same sandwich in some restaurants in the US it would be two inches think – one near us would be three inches high.
Not necessary of course, but that’s the way it is.
So, what else would you expect in a ham sandwich other than a slice of ham??
6-10 slices of ham with mustard on rye bread and maybe a slice or three of Swiss cheese😳
Ahh…now I know what’s wrong, you never asked for cheese 😂
Probably not butter. In my part of the US, at least, I learned that sandwiches are made with mayo. I believe Dick is complaining about the quantity. We have discussed elsewhere the ridiculously large portion sizes on this side of the Atlantic.
Thanks Mark. Just one trip to Port Au Prince, Haiti in 1984 had a profound impact on me. It was the realization of the ovarian lottery effect before I knew of words to describe what that is. Simply put, where you are born, and into what family determines about 90% of one’s life. One of the privileges we often take for granted is the ability to bank in a solid currency. In so many countries around the world currency debasement is wrecking the daily lives of all but the very upper classes. You must have the Pound, many of us the dollar, and just that alone means so much to the quality of our lives.
you don’t need to got Haiti. Visit poor neighborhoods in America. You will see many similarities.
Being in the 1% club? You had me grinning as I’m reminded of your recent article about being frugal and not paying $40 extra for a reserved airline seat choice.
We just flew across the country with what Delta calls Comfort Plus and other airlines call premium economy. For $100 more we had comfortable legroom, no fighting for overhead bins, and one luggage item included. For six hours flights, definitely worth it.
But in Portland, OR, walking around downtown, where people living in the street don’t have anything, it’s odd thinking about this.
I agree, that Comfort Plus is nice. It was a nice change when airlines added that section.
It is sad to see the homeless, and many times I’d like to know their story as to how they got in that situation.
There are so many stories. And they break your heart. You can read about and even talk to people through many different non-profits, including churches, serving the poor in the United States.
Okay. I’m a bit tight lol
There’s another title for an article. I know you can make it eloquent and entertaining with more Irish terms for us to learn. 😬
While I agree with Mark’s main point about leading privileged lives, I like to expand this a bit. People frequently use that term – privileged – and point to socio-economic benefits. And they are indeed blessings and advantages.
But I rarely hear people refer to God-given things like intelligence, charm, good looks, sense of humor, resilience, and athleticism (there are many others) as privileges.
Why is that? After all, they are unearned social advantages that create disparities in important areas of one’ life.
My point is, we all have different gifts and advantages – some of us are smart, some aren’t. Some are funny, some aren’t. Some are friendly, some aren’t. Some of us are more attractive than others. To focus simply on socio-economic advantages one might have over another discounts that someone with little money might be rich in gifts that matter more.
That said, living in a wealthy nation with access to good healthcare, educational systems, reliable and accessible utilities, etc, is not to be taken for granted. For many, the things we have to be thankful for tower above those we seek.
Good points. But I would still rather have looks, intelligence and athletic ability in a first world nation.
One of my sons once complained about his premature balding and blamed my genes. I suggested it could have been worse. He could have been given a full and lasting head of hair instead of that brain.
Aim for the moon, Mark. Why not?
Apologies for my lack of engagement with my article. I don’t have a decent mobile signal where I am traveling in Spain today.
Ha! There are spots in Larchmont, NY, one of the wealthiest suburbs of NYC, where there isn’t cell service, still, in 2025. I don’t see how people can stand to live there.
Satellite phones.
Superb perspective, Mark. To the concepts you mention of gratitude and mindfulness, I would add simple awareness. In the US it’s astonishing how many people truly don’t know how people in the rest of the world live, how rarely our average lifestyle is found in hugely populated places like India and China and Malaysia.
My education in this area began with a day of walking the hutongs of Shanghai, all by myself. I learned more about the real world in 12 hours than I had previously known in my entire life. I will never forget it.
Obliviousness was once a way of life. Today it is an Art Form.
Travel truly brings perspective
Travel only brings perspective when you have at least a modicum of introspection and are willing to accept trying the local ways of doing things.
I began travelling for business in 1966, mostly in North America but also to Europe and the Middle East. Many of the U.S. locations were smaller communities, but I did spend significant time in NYC and Chicago, etc. Cupertino CA was altogether different. I spent months in some of these locations with reoccurring travel, so I experienced the long-term changes. New Orleans and the devastation of Katrina was an eye-opener. My list is very long and there was a lot learned. One thing I concluded was that while at our core human beings may be similar, in different cultures there are very different motivations.
Comparison is the death of joy.
Mark Twain
A terrific book, which touches on some of Mark’s excellent points, is Factfulness by Hans Rosling, who artfully uses data and memorable storytelling to put the lives of others around the world into relatable perspective.
If you want to read the UBS report yourself, you’ll find it here:
https://www.ubs.com/global/en/wealthmanagement/insights/global-wealth-report.html
Thanks for the book tip.
Factfulness and the Gapminder website are amazing. They have truly changed my view on the world we live in.
Wow, this is a powerful post, Mark. The luck category affects us in many ways beyond just where we are born. I would add race, gender, sexual identity, and who we love to the list of lucky.
Dan, good additions!
Dan, I’ve made similar posts here to that exact effect. Sheer fortune of birth circumstance has an enormous impact on how our lives would go. To your additional list I would add family circumstance.
Reminds me of the time shortly after I had moved my family to a Middle Eastern oil producing country to take up employment back in the mid-1990s. I was grousing about how the new ATM card issued by the bank next to my apartment only worked in the newer machines and the machine closest to my apartment was one of the older ones. So, every time I went to pull cash out of the ATM it never worked. Then we got a letter from friends who had taken up residence in a far less developed Arab country — “Our car was stolen last week and spotted in a village about an hour’s drive from the capital. If we pay off the right people, we might be able to get it back.”
Perspective is everything!
So true Mark and we Americans are likely the most out of touch knowing how other people live. The people we call in poverty are more like middle class compared to the world.
We have had debates about travel on HD, but travel sure can open our eyes as to how other people live. It changed my perspective several times like in Central and South America and in the West Bank in Israel, but just visiting solid middle class people in their homes in Europe was enlightening- like no AC as a simple example.
We visited homes in the rural areas of Russia and it was like being in the mid 19th century from our perspective.
Of course, none of what we have or how we live automatically translates to being more content or happy. Actually the opposite may often be the case. 😰
I’ve travelled widely throughout South East Asia. Even in some of the developed parts of the region the difference between city life and the countryside is stark.
In Russia we visited a home and the lady couldn’t afford to give us tea and a biscuit so the travel group purchased them.
When we got to Moscow you couldn’t walk on the sidewalk because that’s where all the BMWs and Mercedes were parked.
Within cities, too. I remember the first time I visited Bangkok and saw the beautiful temples with the statues covered in gold leaf, while looking at what certainly seemed to be surrounding poverty. It occurred to me that that was what medieval cities in Europe would have looked like.
Also between countries. Back in 2002 I travelled from Vietnam to Cambodia by boat up the Mekong. On the Vietnamese side of the border there was plenty of activity, mostly fish farms, on the Cambodian side it was completely rural.
Very true. The juxtaposition in Kuala Lumpur. I went from a fancy breakfast in a luxurious hotel to spending the late afternoon queuing for dhal and roti from a street vendor below the Batu Caves. That whole scene—with the spiritual backdrop, the beggars, and the monkeys—cost me less than 50 cents, a total world away from the city’s glamour.
The US certainly is a country characterised by excess. In part it’s in the DNA as furthering the “American Dream” and as the engine of the economic growth model. But it almost certainly doesn’t make individuals happy – the problem with keeping up with the Joneses is that there is always a wealthier clique to compare oneself negatively to.
That is surely true. We are, by most measures, in the top 10%, but when we are in Florida near Boca Raton and see the “winter” homes and yachts at their dock, I feel like a pauper. One home we often pass is on sale for $45 million and has a twenty car garage on the lower level.
I usually laugh at such places because I imagine the immense ballache in keeping up the maintenance and admin (and the payroll and HR management of the staff hired to do such things), the loss of privacy etc etc.
I’d rather go see nice houses and gardens etc with my National Trust card and know none of the “stuff” is my problem.
And they are hardly even living in them.
We take a lot for granted, and we do, in fact live in an abundance.
Something as basic as clean and fresh drinking water can be a luxury. Most of us are unaware of the incredible infrastructure that supports our way of life. Electricity just comes out of the wall, doesn’t it? And that sludge we flush in the toilet magically disappears in a flow of fresh water. Windfarms have raised our awareness just a bit.
The “World Inequality Database” has an interactive tool so one can see where their personal wealth places them in this pile of humanity.
It does take a lot of dirty jobs to support modern civilization. As Locke once postulated “If we all go to university who will take out the garbage?” (I’m paraphrasing).
Investopedia:
Yeap. An age old lesson my grandmother always reminded me of: “be thankful for what you have and the opportunities given.” The basic comforts we take for granted can easily slip away in a blink of an eye. Another friend always called these issues we sometimes focus too intently on as “nice to have first world problems…” which always gives me great pause.
The report referenced is here -> https://www.ubs.com/global/en/wealthmanagement/insights/global-wealth-report.html
Later.
Thanks for the link. I keep forgetting how to do that.
This is one of my silent soapbox topics. Countless people have and died without imagining the freedom and comfort we can’t imagine living without. And many today yearn for them, with the knowledge they will never attain. I’ll join you in focusing on my blessings.
Well said Edmund.
Point made and taken. We sometime lose sight of how good we really have it. Let gratitude be the word of the day, not just for the economic wealth we enjoy, but for physical health that many of us still enjoy, even if it may not be ‘perfect’ health.
We lose sight of the wood because of the trees
Good article