[psykotic]

There are social, cultural and infrastructural factors which you completely trivialize by neglecting to mention them. In Thailand, for example, working-class people do often live with others in small spaces, but either they are strangers in factory dorms or they are extended family members in small apartments.

The crucial role of the extended family may be the hardest for modern Westerners to appreciate. It is not our feel-good notion of family. My brother in law has spent the last 15 years continuously working out of country as a truck driver in Singapore, living in a ramshackle shelter on construction sites while sending most of his earnings back to his wife and kids. This is a somewhat extreme case, but milder instances are commonplace. People often have to work away from their families for years at a time to make ends meet and accrue any sort of savings.

Then there is transportation. Every day you will see mothers on scooters carrying several toddlers who are certain to die in even minor accidents. Another common sight and a less egregious example would be pickup trucks with the backs piled full of day laborers, or commuters casually hanging off the back of high-speed songthaew busses. This is highly efficient in monetary terms, but the human cost is huge.

It's a complex issue that is not reducible to PPP numbers.

[yummyfajitas]

I'm not sure why you say things aren't "reducible" to PPP numbers - low PPP-adjusted income corresponds quite well to the low consumption levels you are describing.

In any case, I'm glad we are agreed that unreal37 is incorrect, and it is possible to "live on" $1200/month. It's not anywhere near as nice as American poverty, but it's hardly clear that $7.25 is too low.

I'd propose an alternate direction for the discussion - if we believe the American poor are lacking in some necessary good or service, lets be specific and name it.