So you think you're poor

28 Mar 2011. I read an article in the Wall Street Journal this morning about the uncertainty involved in measuring happiness in the populations of nations. Two interesting points emerge in the article. First, because of the relative stability of self-expressions of happiness by respondents, regardless of economic conditions, government representatives are exploring alternate definitions of happiness, principally economic indicators like income. Second, alternate measures are deemed desirable because they can be related to government actions. I would urge caution before we go down this path for the following reasons. Almost uniformly income and other economic indicators are measured relatively. For example, poverty is defined as some point below the median income. The problem is relative measures can never recognize when poverty as an absolute concept is eliminated – some percentage of the population will always have the lowest income, hence be poor, and become subject to the do-good/equality of outcome crowd. I say this is wrong and fuzzy thinking. Caring for the welfare of all as I do, and in order to distinguish actual poverty from relative poverty I offer the following guidelines. First, if you can afford a home or apartment with heat, electricity, running hot and cold water, and a bathroom, your housing circumstances make you ineligible to claim poverty. Next, if you can put nourishing food on your table (gourmet and gourmands aside) you have no claim to poverty here. Further, If public primary and secondary education opportunities are within biking or busing distance, your children’s educational opportunities do allow you to claim poverty. Finally, if you can afford cable or satellite television services and an internet connection, your cultural opportunities make you ineligible to claim poverty. Truly meet four criteria and you are eligible to claim poverty. Meet two or three of four and you are on the border line, some form of support may be necessary. Meet only one of the four and means testing is definitely in order. If you are ineligible on all four, you are or should be on your own. Using absolute unchanging criteria place limits on government mandated interventions that relative criteria do not. If you think you have it bad here in the United States, first watch the documentary Waste Land, then tell what prevents you from improving your own situation. As the song goes “Don’t worry. Be happy.”