Who Is Poor?

This man is poor.  How do we know this?  Well we can see that he is crippled.  We see that his clothes are dirty, at least partly from lying down in the dirt. He has a beggar's dish, so we know he is begging.  How much does begging make?  Well, in India, where he is from, begging doesn't make very much.  There's a lot of competition.  We suspect that he has no choice but to beg.  So he probably doesn't have much money.

But what makes him poor?  We "see" he's poor, but what is the source of his poverty?  Is it that he is crippled? Does being crippled make you poor?  Well, no, there are many people who are disabled who are doing fine.  Is that he is crippled in India?  Again, there are people who are doing quite well being disabled in India as well. Is he poor because he doesn't have much money?  Is it possible to have all one's needs met without much money?  Is it possible to have a decent income and still be poor?

What is real poverty?  Is it simply a matter of economics-- if you are below this income line then you are poor? Can't people not make a single penny, but be a part of a wealthy family and so not be poor?   Or is poverty more about relationships?  If you don't have people to help support you, then if you have a bad time economically, you remain there?  Or is poverty how people see you?  If you are rejected or pitied by society for economic reasons, or because you "look" or "act" poor, then aren't you poor?

Can we make a universal definition of poverty, or is it dependent on society?  If a person lives without electricity in one nation they are poor, can another without electricity not be poor in another context? If a person chooses to live without electricity and has all their needs met are they poor?  What if they have their children taken away from them because they don't have electricity, are they poor then?   Is poverty an objective standard?

Is poverty a measure of need, but one's need is dependent on various issues including personal characteristics and culture?