Yes I have been to poor 3rd world countries. I suggest you visit some more because I know from personal experience that your image of 3rd world poverty is not realistic. I lived in Panama for a year and spent a lot of time in other latin american countries. Not all living in poverty in 3rd world countries have refrigerators and electricity. If they did they would sell them for food. Look at Panama. I personally visited many living in real poverty there and they have four walls and a roof but a dirt floor, no electricity, and no fridge, ice, or radio, let alone color t.v. Medical care is only a dream to most of them. Their health was scary from lack of nutrition on a regular basis as well as bacterial infections and infections from bug bites. Some did not even have shoes. That goes for Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Honduras. Believe me the living conditions of the poor in those countries were NOTHING compared to the poor I saw living in the U.S., West Germany, Spain, France, Switzerland, Netherlands (I was in Den Haag in 1984 and then I drove around the country for 2 weeks), or Denmark. The closest to the Latin American countries' poorest conditions was East Berlin but even there everyone had a roof over their head, heat (albeit coal), t.v., a radio, a refrigerator, a stove, adequate (if ugly) clothing, and most of them even a vehicle. No comparison at all....

>Hi tracy,
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>>I have heard that same statement many times (90/10). Yet the highest percentage of households in the U.S. is in the 30,000.00 to 49,000.000 annual salary range:
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>I don't see here an argument that refutes my argument here.
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>>Interestingly, 99.9% of American households have a refrigerator, 99.7% of them a stove and/or oven, and 98.9% have a color television. I guess color television must be a necessity now no matter your income level.
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>>Look at the number of households that have a washer, dryer, stereo, cell phone, vcr(s), and a dishwasher. It is all very interesting. Those living in poverty in the U.S. live pretty well compared to those living in poverty in other countries.
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>Have you ever been in a third world country? Very interesting is that about ten years ago, I went on a holiday to the dominican republic. I've seen poverty there. People living in houses made of a 2nd hand wood and garbage, washing in the river or in the reain when it fall, eating from the land. I don't recall the exact numbers, but about 20-40% of all babies born won't make it into third year. But no matter how poor they were, they all had a fridge and a TV. Electricity is illigally tapped from the net so that is basically free.
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>I don't think you can measure poverty by the possesion of certain goods. Basic health care OTOH is certainly a measure. If your son or daughter get sick and can not pay the doctor, this is a serious matter. If you cannot pay the rent, buy food etc it is also a total different matter. Second hand 'luxuries' like a TV, VCR, Fridge Video games are very cheap compared to those costs.
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>>I'd be interested in seeing the same scales for European countries. Do you have a link by any chance?
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>I don't have simular link. And if I did, it probably would only per country, not europe as a whole. There is much more poverty in certain areas of europe than others, but I have about no doubt that what you seem to define as luxury goods here are no foreign devices by even the poor people in europe.
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>Walter,