Indeed. My perception is that well-off Americans have ridiculously excessive unsustainable lifestyles, with superfluously large cars, houses, whatever. And at the same time your poor have much less than those bare minimums that you mention.
It’s not just the very wealthy. The middle class in America also enjoy a much nicer standard of living than in Europe. Have a gander at the cost of living indices and there are very few categories where the US doesn’t fare better (and often dramatically better). Not to mention the takehome pay (post-pension, post-healthcare) are quite often 30-40% larger for working professionals. I think we still need a stronger social safety net, but Europe is not so dramatically better than the US as this thread makes it out to be.
I did mean to include the middle class (especially upper middle class) in my definition of "well-off".
What then do you mean that American cars/houses are unsustainable? I don't think big houses/cars is a good thing, but I think it probably is sustainable for quite a while (less climate concerns, in which case everything is unsustainable, depending on who you talk to) because we don't have the same density as Europe. I haven't thought much about this, but that's my hunch. I'd be really interested to hear counterarguments.