LogFAQs > #880111078

That is why I think the real difference in wealth isn't between 1% and the rest, but really between the poor vs middle class and up.

The moment you have enough money that a flat tire or your home's furnace goes out isn't a big deal, or maybe (if in the US) having to go the ER won't ruin you...that is true "wealth". Anything above that is just fancier, bigger, larger, but deep down, your quality of life does not change nearly as much as going from "counting pennies to not end up in the street" vs "some kind of financial security". Having 15 yachts, 3 more homes and more maids would not really change anything beyond where I got now (I used to live in poverty and am now upper middle class).

And since most of the ultra rich's money is all invested and they spend it on big project or luxury goods, they also don't compete with the rest of us. Ultra rich people won't make the prices of your local grocery store go up. But gentrification and a lot of middle income people coming in WILL as well as raise the price of rent and such.

Anyway, that was all kind of off topic, but it's something to think about. These rich people almost live in a separate economy than we do.