Forbes: There Are No Poor Americans

Forbes reports using income levels is a misleading way of measuring poverty, the appropriate standards measure consumption levels - how much people have and consume:

By those same World Banks standards the definition of globally middle class is a consumption possibility of $2 to $50 a day. (snip) Even those reporting no income at all in the US have consumption possibilities roughly equal to those reporting incomes of $20 a day. And to repeat, yes, this is adjusting for the different value of money in different places and countries.

Thus we can say that by global standards there are no poor people in the US at all: the entire country is at least middle class or better. We seem to have fought and won that War on Poverty.

The U.S. poor tend to have color TV and cars - old ones to be sure. There is little actual hunger in the U.S. except among supermodels. If anything, our poor tend to be obese. Hat tip to Lucianne.com for the link.