The argument about the poverty line is a bit weird. It's completely reasonable that $1.90/day is still very low, and that we might want to take a higher point

The argument about the poverty line is a bit weird. It's completely reasonable that $1.90/day is still very low, and that we might want to take a higher point as a poverty line. But if the numbers below that line have decreased, that is still a huge win. Going from $1.80/day to $3.60/day, say, is a big improvement. That is true precisely because $1.90 is so low. Jason Hickel's argument seems to show that there is still a lot to do. But it does not show that we have not got much better.