World Poverty Rate Over Last Two Hundred Years

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CosmicSex said:
I think we need a better standard than 2 dollars a day. Its relative to the cost of living by area. This is absolute poverty. Im not satisfied. I think the human race can do better. I really think the monetary system is botched and I think we have a long way to go. My reality is a world where rises in the cost of living outpace earnings. I see people who work really really hard for their families struggle year after year to keep up with things like health care costs. I am a person who believes that hard work should be rewarded financially but I know that is unpopular.

The bolded is the answer for why it is only $2 /day. The majority of places making less than $2 /day have lower costs of living than places where the wages are much higher. Nevertheless, you can't ignore that just two centuries ago 80% of the world made less than this, and the cost of living (on average) was mostly the same. 

I think it is a combination of hard work and smart work. One shouldn't be paid more because they dig ditches and fill them up. They need to help produce a social good that others demand. That is why there are different wages/salaries for different jobs. Not all work is equally valueable.