Imagine a faraway land that was so prosperous that almost every inhabitant had their own personal Rolls Royce parked inside the garage of a 5,000 square foot house, and had personal chefs that whipped up whatever food they wanted.

Now, imagine about 15 percent of the population of that fictional country only had a 2,000 square foot house, a low-end BMW or Mercedes, and had to go to restaurants to get what they wanted to eat. Would it seem silly to call this group "poor"?

It would seem so to people from less prosperous countries who struggle to find food and warmth on a daily basis, as well as people in the rich country who had the presence of mind not to be fooled by the laughable idea of relative poverty.

Relative poverty is not quite the same as actual poverty, as the story about the faraway land illustrates.  No matter how rich a person is, he can always be considered relatively poor when compared to someone wealthier.

Relative--not real--poverty is what many American social programs are based upon. It's a great scam--the relative poor will always be with us, no matter how rich we get as a nation.

In this country, almost zero people starve to death. Out of 300 million people, almost nobody starves to death for wont of food.

Think about that. Demagogues tell us they need more of tax dollars because children are going to bed hungry. It's nonsense. In fact, the biggest health problem facing the"poor" is obesity.

If I was from another country and worried about where my next meal was coming from, I wouldn't believe there would be people in America who thought they were poor. No wonder they hate us.

Over 90 percent of the American "poor" own refrigerators, televisions and ovens. More than three-quarters have air conditioning, and two-thirds have cable television. Thirty percent have a video game system, and over half (as of 2005) had cell phones.

Ironically, the social welfare state consumes so much money annually from taxpayers that might otherwise donate some of that money to charitable organizations that help truly starving people in other countries.