You're quite right, Michael - everything is relative, to a certain extent. But when one has, say, gained the basics of Maslow's 'hierarchy of needs', how much further does one need to go?

1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep.

2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom from fear.

3. Love and belongingness needs - friendship, intimacy, affection and love, - from work group, family, friends, romantic relationships.

4. Esteem needs - achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-respect, respect from others.

5. Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.

I'm fully aware that there are many millions of people in this world who struggle to achieve even the littlest of these, but I don't really think diamond-encrusted headphones, or perhaps a diamond-encrusted yacht anchored off Monte Carlo - adds much somehow.