Why do I feel guilty about having basic comfort when others have less?

That guilt you feel is a sign of your conscience, which is good. But guilt alone doesn't change systems. I would ask you to separate two things that culture often tangles together: your personal dignity and the injustice of unequal systems. You have a right to shelter that doesn't leak, to food that nourishes, to rest. These aren't luxuries—they're conditions for thinking clearly and living with integrity. Denying yourself these things doesn't lift anyone else's burden. It just adds another person suffering needlessly. Where reason enters is here: once you've secured your own sufficiency without excess, ask yourself what you can do structurally. Not charity that soothes your guilt, but action that addresses why others lack basics. Support policies that expand access. Use your stability to take positions—professional, civic, personal—that you couldn't take from desperation. Speak clearly about what you've observed. The dignity of others isn't threatened by your comfort. It's threatened by your silence, your complicity, your willingness to accept as natural what is actually unjust. Ease your guilt not by self-punishment, but by becoming the kind of person whose basic security allows them to see clearly and act accordingly. That's the exchange worth making.