<i>Have you ever been to rural Mississippi or West Virginia? I have...</i><p>You have seriously misunderstood the situations that you&#x27;ve seen. Yes there are poor people in Mississippi. No they do not live like poor people in Romania. They <i>are</i> probably similar in a way that looms large for you, in that they make different choices about their lives than you would make for them. An American who doesn&#x27;t have a smartphone doesn&#x27;t want one, which is a perfectly valid choice. [0] The use of animal traction in agriculture is also a valid choice, but one would be wrong to assume that the Amish are poor. It&#x27;s especially problematic for &quot;yuppies in McMansions&quot; to attempt to universalize their idiosyncratic tastes in housing. Most of humanity does just fine without a giant pile of pine sticks and drywall.<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.fcc.gov&#x2F;consumers&#x2F;guides&#x2F;lifeline-affordable-telephone-service-income-eligible-subscribers" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.fcc.gov&#x2F;consumers&#x2F;guides&#x2F;lifeline-affordable-tel...</a>