How easy it is to judge others based on things outside of themselves, outside of who they are, but to not apply that same judgement anywhere else.
“It is astonishing that everything except ourselves is judged by its own properties: we praise a horse for its vigour and dexterity - we do not praise it for its harness. We praise a greyhound for its speed - not for its neckband; a hawk for its wings, not for its bells and leg straps...
In nature, we're less concerned about what others think, nature doesn't judge you, and so we don't judge animals for their accessories.
...So why do we not similarly value a man for qualities which are really his? He may have a great suite of attendants, a beautiful palace, a great suite of influence and a large income: all that may surround him but is not in him.” ― Montaigne’s Essays.
Montaigne wrote his famous Essays in the 1500s, so while having a palace and attendants may have gone out of fashion, influence and income remain common qualities by which we assess people.
See: Forbes 30 under 30, ensuring your 'follower' count is higher than your 'following' count (mine is not...), Refinery29's famous Money Diaries series, never keeping up with Kardashians, and so on.
We've discussed previously the tendency for market values to crowd out non-market ones, and the same is true of assessing others.
In a market world, status and income are proxies for the things with true value - freedom, intelligence, charisma. And so we have the question, 'what do you do?' or a fast and easy way to assess someone's income and abilities, based on what we know about their profession and experience.
Remember that the map is not the territory, that money changes value, and that comparing wealth is the thief of life.
And next time you meet someone new, ask them about their hobbies, or things they do for their own sake.