How Rich Are You?

I recently read this quote from Economist Robert Heilbrone in an article. The writer of the article was trying to help us put ourselves in someone else's shoes (the poorest billion or so in the world).

We begin by invading the house of (the) imaginary American family to strip it of its furniture. Everything goes: beds, chairs, tables, television set, lamps. We will leave the family with a few old blankets, a kitchen table, a wooden chair. Along with the bureaus go the clothes. Each member of the family may keep in his “wardrobe” his oldest suit or dress, a shirt or blouse. We will permit a pair of shoes for the head of the family, but none for the wife or children.

We move to the kitchen. The appliances have already been taken out, so we turn to the cupboards … The box of matches may stay, a small bag of flour, some sugar and salt. A few moldy potatoes, already in the garbage can, must be hastily rescued, for they will provide much of tonight’s meal. We will leave a handful of onions, and a dish of dried beans. All the rest we take away: the meat, the fresh vegetables, the canned goods, the crackers, the candy.

Now we have stripped the house: the bathroom has been dismantled, the running water shut off, the electric wires taken out. Next we take away the house. The family can live in the tool shed …

I'm not sure the man was harsh enough here. Even if you make only 2,500 a year, you are still richer than most people in the world. And this is just stuff. A song the children and I like to sing on the streets talks about how man heaps up treasures mixed with woe, and then dies and leaves it all behind. What's it all for anyway if it does not have eternal value?
I pray this causes all to stop and think before complaining about not having 'enough'.