That's a good perspective for those of us living comfortable middle-class lives in the developed world currently. But having seen the other side of the coin in

That's a good perspective for those of us living comfortable middle-class lives in the developed world currently. But having seen the other side of the coin in the not-so-developed world, I'm sure the author could (and should) add the words "in America" to that essay's title. Being poor elsewhere is far far worse than what he describes here.