I’ve been all over Europe and they don’t live like American middle-class people. Their homes are smaller, their cars are smaller and their pocketbooks seem smaller. Keep in mind that measures of wealth are misleading. It only takes a few very, very rich to skew those numbers on per capita income or wealth. I’m happy to entertain your statistics, but I’ll believe my eyes on this one.
They’re poorer via socialism. They’ve voted themselves somebody else’s money, but the joke’s on them.
Also, if sheer clutter and ability to fill a house with stuff qualifies as wealth, me and my relatives are among the superrich indeed. Unfortunately, that's far from the case.
I notice on television (if that's any indication) that some very rich people have some very nice things indeed, but don't have all the boxes of things they never use in their garages.