Indeed, the poverty line is chosen arbitrarily so that... well, roughly one sixth of the population get to be "poor" at all times. Any less than that, and peop

Indeed, the poverty line is chosen arbitrarily so that... well, roughly one sixth of the population get to be "poor" at all times. Any less than that, and people who make their living off providing free stuff to the "poor" will get annoyed. Any more than that and too many people will start questioning whether someone with a $30K income is really "poor". I certainly wouldn't want to live on $22K per annum. Though now I come to think of it, I was living on less than that, in a more expensive place than the vast majority of America, just a few short years ago as a PhD student. Certainly we can say that in terms of absolute need, someone at the "poverty line" in America is incredibly wealthy compared to the vast majority of people who have ever lived. In historical terms, if you're not starving, you're pretty rich.