The thing is, even when it’s defined as some absolute measure, it ends up being a moving target. Defining adequate healthcare is one example. Food has continu

The thing is, even when it’s defined as some absolute measure, it ends up being a moving target. Defining adequate healthcare is one example. Food has continually gotten cheaper, relative to poverty lines. Education — we have public schools, and most impoverished kids, being stupid, spend way more time in education than is useful for them. Really it’s all housing. There is a tenement shortage. But let’s suppose we free up the housing market and make rent cheap again, such that only the absolutely nonproductive lack a place to stay. NYT will still be talking about how there’s so much poverty.