Poverty Defined

       Poverty can be defined as extreme insufficient funds which ultimately hinder one's ability to survive by the standards of a distributive justice style society. In such a society, goods are exchanged according to an individual's or group's social value. In many cases a form of currency in coin or paper form representative of high value material (typically gold) is used for such exchanges. In this case one's social value can be defined as how much income they can generate in a given amount of time. Failure to generate a particular income in a given amount of time in respect to the region in which that individual lives and according to cost of living results in poverty. This particular amount of income is defined as the poverty line. The poverty line is an amount of money an individual needs to meet or exceed in order to acquire basic necessities for survival in a distributive society such as food, clothing and shelter.
       The current legal definition of poverty is already copesetic, however, the definition itself is often skewed and manipulation by politics in order to change statistical data regarding it. The current defintion of poverty is the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. in politics, the poverty line can be adjusted as well as statistics regarding poverty in that region may be falsely altered to change what the defintion of poverty in that region is. I don't believe its the definition of poverty that needs to be adjusted, but the politicians who adjust it. Poverty is typically criminalized and frowned upon in the U.S. and as a result, the blatently obvious issues are swept aside. Ultimately, politicians as well as citizens need to confront poverty and better understand it if we, as a nation, are to ever overcome it.

References:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poverty