Yes but that doesn't mean this comparison has moral standing. Also this behaviour is pretty low-level, neurologically, and we can train our higher executive functions to override and disregard it. I would argue that should be the expectation.
> can essentially buy laws that benefit themselves
Again - so what? As long as everyone's lives are improving on every metric, who cares that the wealthy mess with the tax laws or enact regulatory capture.
> that's cold comfort to someone who won't be able to buy a house in their lifetime because limited land supply goes to the richest.
No, the person (and all other people) should derive their comfort from the gratitude for being able to live in a modern, extremely comfortable world.
Edit: to rephrase, isn't the problem here the expectation/belief that you should have/are entitled to a detached house?
1. Housing has become much more unaffordable.
2. Higher education has become much more unaffordable.
3. Retirement income has become much less guaranteed.
4. Employment is much less stable than it used to be.
Just look at the coming eviction tidal wave that will happen after the eviction moratoriums in the US end. Telling people "But look at all the other modern comforts you have now!" will smack as "Let them eat cake" when someone gets kicked out of their house, while the rich got much richer over the past year.
That's hardly surprising though is it? The number of people in the US has almost doubled since 1960, and urban population density has increased much more than that. Any expecation that everyone will be able to afford a detached house in any proximity to a metropolis is clearly unreasonable.
> Higher education has become much more unaffordable.
Again, the admissions rate hasn't really kept up with the population has it? Also there's a labour shortage in lots of skilled trades, construction and agricultural labour; and a labour surplus in finance and law. Do you think it's reasonable that everyone expects to attend higher education?
> Retirement income has become much less guaranteed.
I'm not sure how you'd measure retirement income "guaranteedness". Also see "Pension Timebomb" for how actually guaranteed those pensions are.
> Employment is much less stable than it used to be
Do you have a source for this? Ideally one that controls for people changing employment to advance their careers? This is much more common these days for the reasons outlined in the article.
Yes, after being evicted from a place you cannot afford, or after any other trying circumstance, telling people to focus on what they can be grateful for instead of what to be angry about is exactly the right thing to do. What business is it of yours or anyone elses how much money someone else has? Who cares if they have more or less than last year? How is that related to you personally being unable to affort rent due to being unemployed during a pandemic?
1. Humans are humans, and they pretty much always judge their success by comparing themselves to others. Or, rather, humans are primates. Take a look at the famous study of the monkey that got cucumber while the other monkey got tastier grapes.
2. Income inequality in and of itself can be a problem because the mega wealthy can essentially buy laws that benefit themselves. There have been many studies that show that politicians are much more responsive to the desires of the rich than the desires of the average person.
3. In any economy, limited resources always go to those on the top of the wealth graph, regardless of cost to produce. So while you may be able to say everyone's standard of living is better, that's cold comfort to someone who won't be able to buy a house in their lifetime because limited land supply goes to the richest.