>>>I think it's a pretty strong statement to say there are no poor in America. Aren't something like 12% of Americans living below the poverty line? That is the government's own measure of what it takes to provide the basic necessities like food, shelter, clothing, and utilities.
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>>In one of the presidential election ads I saw today, I learned that 42,000/yr is considered middle income. Really? I would think 50,000 or so would be considered middle income. I guess I'm out of touch. The average income in my city is 38,000/yr so I guess that must be middle income here.
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>And the minimal wage should be $19 to be on the same level as when it was previously set, years ago. And today's minimal wage puts one squarely below poverty level - just multiply $6.25 with 2050 (work hours in a year) and you get 12812.50.

Is is called "Minimal" or "minimum" over there. My wage has been OK but, can think of it as minimal, compared to my perceived worth.

Like you can have an optimum temperature to keep food, or brightness at which to read from a lamp, but when, say, camping, and having to conserve electricity/battery power, and given the ambient temp. (or light level of the sky), there is an optimal temp to keep your fridge/brightness setting of the lamp.