Be the change you want to see in the world or whatever

I also think you overestimate how many western people are rich by this standard.

Still, many might be surprised at how many people they know or encounter who are rich by this standard. In a globally wealthy country, in the areas generally wealthy, you’re going to find “rich” people all over the place.

I also think you overestimate how many western people are rich by this standard. For example, nobody I know would be part of the 10% here by that income, and I live in Norway.

Sorry, I guess I subconsciously decided to err high when discussing somebody else's wealth/success out of politeness, but I now realize this context is the exception!

As an American, I don't think I'm underestimating how many Americans are rich by this standard, however. Heck, even most of us who don't meet it still live the same kind of suburban, car-centric lifestyle as if we did. The people around you might not be the problem, but the people around me sure as fuck are!

And really, you really don’t need more than that to live a good and luxurious life. In fact I think you don’t even need to be anywhere close to that, even. Especially if you implement some actual rent controls, lower incomes are plenty fine.

100% agreed. I don't want to absolve myself of my culpability as part of the problem (or undermine my thesis that most Americans don't realize how much of a part of the problem they are, for that matter), but I have to admit that I try to live an abnormally frugal (and therefore possibly lower-carbon) lifestyle, and I'm very satisfied with it. I own a single-family house, but it's a relatively-small one in a streetcar suburb. I own too many cars (mostly old project cars), but I put very few miles on them because my wife and I both bicycle for almost all commuting and errands. My family lives comfortably on spending that's not too far above the federal poverty level, which means we do a lot of cooking instead of eating out and get a lot of our durable goods used instead of new. (Side note: it's crazy what some of the folks around here throw out: I've got a giant, 8' tall, solid-wood, built-in hutch in my dining room that I found on the side of the road! Luckily, I own a utility trailer -- which was also given to me for free -- or I'd have never gotten it home.) Finally, although my income is typically quite a bit higher -- we aim for a very high savings rate -- it's never been so high as to come anywhere near the "global 10% income" I cited earlier.

Anyway, point is: although I'm desperately trying not to be so naive as to think I'm the exception to my own claim about who's part of the problem, I do think I have a perspective that gives me a better understanding than most about what lifestyle changes are needed to solve it and how they're not as hard as people think.

For the US median income is $46,625/year. So more then half of Americans are not part of the richest 10%

While true, $46,625 is still the top 32%. Which suggests that the average American will still have to make some lifestyle cuts. Even though they're already exploited hard by their ruling class.

$30k, the entry level salary for US restaurant workers, is the 50% mark. So basically, every full-time working US adult is in the top 50% richest globally by income. Their exorbitant medical and student debts make that not feel anything like how being rich is portrayed, even if they are technically richer when measured by income alone.

You know things are fucked when most of the richest people in the world are struggling to put a roof over their head and pay for essentials.

There were two possible definitions to go by: income or net worth. Look how low the net worth figure is (especially the one from the Credit Suisse study).

Keep in mind that even a $1M net worth -- more than either the Credit Suisse or World Inequality Report measure -- is considered on the low side in terms of retirement savings by age 65. (At a 4% safe withdrawal rate, it only gets you $40k/year to live on.)