Factual
Well, it’s an impossible question to answer, because the definition of poverty has changed in 50 years, here anyway. Today even the poor have electricity, running water, phones, some sort of medical care. In 1964 there were some(not a lot )who didnt, and not by choice. When men were going into the Army at the beginning of World War II, it was reported some boys from places like Appalachia had signs of extreme poverty. We were coming out of a depression. Nowadays if somebody is off the grid, doesn’t wear shoes is is badly nourished its due to other factors or even by choice. Using homeless counts to measure poverty is a bad idea because a lot of people are homeless for reasons other than poverty, mental illness, for example. That’s a crisis of a different kind. Believe it or not, some people in the streets actually get disability checks, and just choose not to use them for rent.
If poverty is always relative, then the war is never over. Of course people will feel poor even if they are clothed, fed, housed, have transportation, Obama phones and medical care because they’re comparing themselves to other Americans who have bigger houses, newer cars, etc instead if to people in third world countries or their own great grandparents in this country.
This is one of the reasons this “income inequality” catch phrase of Obamas is so dangerous.