I'd feel pretty terrible about my ability if one of the best things about me was proximity to a building. I live in the midwest and I like it in the midwest, and I'm quite happy with a ~future~ present where I'm competing with people around the world for a job I want and not stuck to the one of the 10 or so places I could do my kind of work here.
You might be in the top 1%, but 99% of people aren't. Not everyone is able to compete globally against 3 billion other people. Most people are unexceptional and average. And that's okay. Those are the workers keep the world moving forward.
It is perfectly okay to just be the best person at something in your town or local area. Telling people "you should feel pretty terrible about your ability if you aren't one of the best people in the world" is telling 99.99% of the population they should feel forever worthless.
IMO, if a person somewhere in the world is better qualified for the job than me - it's ok. They worked hard to get where they are and their work should be compensated fairly.
but he did not say this at all. not even literally.
you merely think he implied it, which is still a leap, since all this person described to you was how they personally internalize their work.
your disdain for competition makes it harder to read.
It's true that if in an absolute sense you're in the bottom rung of the labor pool then a global market will be more likely to sort you into a job with low desirability. I sympathize; I'm from Cincinnati, and if my employer were in the Bay Area (and paying Bay Area wages) it would have been harder for me to get a job there. But I'm not that sympathetic, because a global market means someone with a better fit but no local options can find a job. It means that if the market for data scientists in Cincinnati dries up I still have a chance.