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The poverty rate as a percentage hasn't really changed since the mid 1960's, so I'm not sure what your point is. I'd much rather be in poverty in 2017 than in 1

• rtpg 9y ago
  in the 60 years since 1960 we have somehow been unable to bring everyone out of poverty despite the massive increase in productivity we've seen? Meanwhile the gap between the richest and poorest person has grown immensely, and real wages have stagnated for 30 years. Sure, everyone has an iPhone, but there's a universe where everyone has an iPhone and almost nobody is underwater. And we actively choose to not be in it every time we subscribe to "our billionaire benefactor" theories.
  • Mary-Jane 9y ago
    Our legal definition of poverty is floating and generally translates to "the bottom 30 percent", so of course we haven't seen a drop! This definition is problematic, not just because it makes the people pointing it out look like in-compassionate jerks, it obscures the real problems many people in poverty have and makes their causes harder to understand and address. It also gives many an excuse to dismiss the poor because, "the government is giving iPhones to them; they're problems can't be that bad."
• coldtea 9y ago
  >I'd much rather be in poverty in 2017 than in 1960. You'd be surprised. In 1960 it was easy to find occasional job gigs and make some money. Plus, in the fifties even a simple month's salary got a long way.