Yes, but look at him!

Two scenarios - (1) I earn £30,000 a year, you earn £10,000 a year. (2) I earn £50,000 a year, you earn £20,000. Which scenario would you prefer? It may seem a silly question, but it all depends on how you look at it. You earn twice as much in scenario 2, but the disparity between our earnings is £10,000 greater. And when people talk about "the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer" it is often the disparity between rich and poor they are talking about, rather than the actual levels of wealth. It's a bit reminiscent of pay negotiations back in the 50s and 60s, when how much you were being offered seemed to be less important than how much others were earning and "maintaining the differentials". If we could concentrate more on our own situation and stop looking at what others are doing we might be more content.