[novok]

I call the counterargument "You can't live on pepper". As in even though pepper is way cheaper than it was 500 years ago, you'll starve if that is all you can afford.

[abnry]

A good thing is still a good thing. And for the vast majority of Americans, we aren't talking about starvation, or even homelessness.

[Frondo]

With tens of millions of Americans facing food insecurity and tens of millions of Americans facing eviction now, thanks to years of precarity exacerbated by the COVID-19, I think the situation is worse than you're suggesting.