I think it's both things. Very meaningful for the value that we all put in it, and at the same time, it's nothing at all.
In an ideal world maybe everyone would be provided for and we wouldn't obsess over paper. But the system is a sort of lesser approximation of fairness. "Worst one except for all the others", as the saying goes.
That is an odd point to make when you are fully aware of how much $20 could mean to a homeless person.