&gt;where people struggle<p>It annoys me anything below today&#x27;s incredibly high standard of living is considered struggling.<p>Puerto-rico&#x27;s per capita GDP is 5x (!!!) higher than the United States in 1900 (US GDP per Cap was $4,096.00 in 1900 inflation adjusted).<p>Is it really correct to say that almost the entire US population was struggling up until the mid 1900s? And now we&#x27;re in some utopia?<p>&#x27;Struggling&#x27; implies an emotional state.  Yet the standard of living implies almost nothing about emotional state. I&#x27;d imagine Puerto Rico has a very similar emotional state to the US! So why do we constantly use the word struggle as a financial comparison and not an emotional one? It almost seems like a unconscious conspiracy to garner <i>emotional</i> support for what amounts to a more <i>financial</i> difference.