IN the USA, by definition, “Poverty” is a constant: The lower 20% of all incomes.
Doesn’t matter what you have, how well you live, etc. If you are in the lower 20% of US incomes, you are in “poverty.”
Some 87% of the world’s population lives below the US “poverty line”.
Half the world’s population lives on less than $2/day.
If you’re doing better than 9 out of 10 people on the planet, or even just half, you’re not poor.
Author makes good categories. “Destitution” and “want” are poor; “hardship” and “relative deprivation” are not.
Haiti has poverty, as there is nowhere near enough natural resources to support the population, and moving elsewhere is nigh unto impossible for most. Here, the problem isn’t resources, it’s the will to survive.