I don't mean to pick on you, but you have made the most interest points here.;-)
Scarcity can be a good thing in that it can build character.
Like many of us, I had parents who were children of the depression. Their appreciation of the value of little things (like a hot cup of coffee and a good meal) were the products of scarcity...and were wonderful things to behold.
You are correct, to some extent. Of course, poverty and its character building are always much more attractive when others are the ones affected. Very few people choose to live in poverty to built their character.
But I do know what you mean. One of the most disgusting things I see around me is the way young upper-crust types think failure to have the latest and best of everything constitutes true hardship. Actual hardship would be good for them, IMO.
You may remember the idiot in Santa Barbara who killed a number of people. One of the hardships he listed that drove him to it was being forced to drive only a Mercedes E-class.