No his point is valid. 50k gets you a very good lifestyle - enough for a good house, 3 very solid meals, a very good school and every opportunity to better your life going forward. I definitely did not experience any financial troubles growing up (and my family left the country later so that worked out well for us). But that doesn't correlate well with a good life in America - very different definitions of luxuries.
You misunderstand. $1000/month is a pretty high salary in India even now. In the 90s, someone making the equivalent of that much would be considered upper class, not upper middle class. This has nothing to do with Macs or Ferraris.
I suppose I must be better off than I thought. I can't afford a Ferrari, so I must be doing really well for myself.