But am I right in thinking you're looking at this from a strictly US viewpoint? Most of the world's population live in what we would call poverty, and yet they don't suffer the same sort of social angst as do those on the lower rungs in the West? The Federal Poverty level is something like $15K a year for a 2 member household in the US, the global poverty level is if a person earns less than 2 dollars a day (which is relative of course). But I would suggest that, for example, just because more than half of the Bolivian population live in 'poverty' they don't necessarily suffer from despair, misery and hopelessness, they try and enhance their lives as any community does, and enjoy what they can. I believe we're seriously missing the point if we equate all aspects of quality of life to how much money or material assets someone has. But maybe I'm just being fanciful?