As measured in calories it did not triple. But malnutrition went down a lot. And reduced malnutrition was one of the causes of rising IQ and physical stature over that time period.

The actual progress in standards of living in the USA from 1930 to 1980 is hard to overstate.

In what way are the poor exploited?

They possess essentially no power in labour negotiations, and most of them live under the yoke of debt.

I agree with those statements, and still dispute your use of the word 'exploit' insomuch as it implies unfairness or some kind of wrongdoing on the part of society.

Society has implemented welfare safety nets and minimum wages for the express purpose of improving the lot of the poor, at a non-trivial cost to the rest (i.e. financial net-contributors) of society. The wages that the poor are able to command (above the proscribed price floor) are the result of market forces of supply and demand; the prevalence of unskilled labor results in low pay--not society or greedy business owners.

The fact that society doesn't do even more to put money in the pockets of the poor can't be 'exploitation', unless you're 'exploiting' a homeless man when you put a dollar in his cup, when you could've put two.

Unless you're talking about loansharks, pay-day-lenders, and that sort of thing, in which case you're right, screw those guys.

Please don't take HN threads into generic ideological arguments. They're off topic here.

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