Absolute vs Relative Poverty

And those who try to sell the two issues as being the same thing (FT, h/t Adam Smith Blog)... Of course given the large and generally unaccountable industry around poverty, it's easy to see why there are some who want to continue measuring poverty on a relative basis. Unless basic rules of math change, it will always be impossible for everyone to be "above average". This isn't to say of course that there are numerable deserving charities, but to give unquestionably strikes me as an act more about self than it is about benevolence.