TL;DR: In strategy, the most dangerous error is to misdiagnose your own position. The modern concept of "relative poverty" is a subjective, emotional fallacy that breeds strategic confusion. In the age of AI, you must be ruthless in your objectivity. This guide deconstructs the only benchmark that matters—the median income—to define the three true strategic classes: Poverty (survival), The Middle Class (whose asset is skill and must build an experience moat), and The Wealthy (whose asset is capital). Your 30s are the critical decade to achieve this self-consciousness and prepare for the next stage.
I am James, CEO of Mercury Technology Solutions.
In strategic planning, the most catastrophic failure is not a bad plan; it's a bad diagnosis based on flawed definitions. When we use the wrong words to define our problem, our solutions will be, without exception, unfocused and chaotic.
Of all the strategically misused concepts today, the most dangerous is "poverty."
In the ancient world, poverty was an objective, brutal, physical reality. It meant you lacked food, shelter, and warmth. Your very survival was under direct threat. By this historical standard, the vast majority of people in our modern society—even those renting apartments and worrying about bills—are living in a state of affluence.
So why do so many feel "poor"?
The Birth of a Fallacy: "Relative Poverty"
The turning point occurred in 1958. The economist John Kenneth Galbraith, in his seminal book The Affluent Society, posed a revolutionary question. He looked at the United States—the most powerful industrial and agricultural nation on earth, capable of feeding itself and the world—and asked why, if "absolute poverty" was solved, so many people still lived in financial distress.
Galbraith pointed out that the classical economists, like Adam Smith, lived in a world of resource scarcity. Their theories were based on "survival needs." But in an affluent society where survival is no longer the primary daily struggle, the definition of poverty must change.
It shifted from an absolute lack to a relative deprivation.
This was the birth of "relative poverty." It's not a physical problem; it's a psychological one. It is a subjective feeling rooted in the simple observation that "other people have more than I do."
Why "Relative Poverty" is a Strategic Trap
This redefinition has created a dangerous logical trap for any leader or professional trying to build a strategy.
"Absolute poverty" is a solvable problem. We can provide food, shelter, and resources to eliminate it.
"Relative poverty" is an unsolvable problem. As long as a single person in the world is wealthier than you, this subjective "poverty" will always exist.
This leads to a strategic absurdity. If poverty is purely a subjective feeling, can a person with a portfolio of properties and a luxury car legitimately claim to be "relatively poor" just by looking at Li Ka-shing? Must society then pity their "deprivation" and agree that they are victims of an unfair system?
If poverty can be "self-identified" like any other modern concept, the word loses all meaning. It becomes a tool for emotional leverage, not an objective problem to be solved.
The Only Objective Benchmark: The Median Line
As a systems thinker, I reject this ambiguity. We must establish an objective, measurable standard to diagnose our true position.
The standard is simple: You cannot only look at how many people are richer than you; you must also, at the same time, look at how many are poorer than you.
The "relative poverty" complaint is a half-truth. The other half is "relative affluence." If you are feeling poor by looking up, you must calibrate your true position by also looking down.
Therefore, the only objective benchmark that matters is the median income.
The median is not the average. The median is the cold, hard dividing line: 50% of the population is above it, and 50% is below it. It is your true economic coordinate.
A New Framework for a New Era: Poverty, Middle Class, and Wealth
As AI prepares to radically re-value all human skills, you must be clear on your strategic starting point. I believe there are only three classes that matter from a strategic perspective.
- Poverty: Your income is significantly below the median, typically in the bottom 1/3 of society. You lack the resources to absorb unexpected shocks (a medical bill, a job loss). Your life is in a fragile, high-risk state. Your only strategy is survival and the relentless accumulation of skills and capital to break into the next class.
- The Middle Class: Your income is near the median (e.g., above the median but below the top 23%). Your life is stable, but your primary asset is your professional skill. Your greatest fear, or what should be your greatest fear, is AI-driven obsolescence. Your skills (coding, marketing, analysis) are on a path to being commoditized. Your strategic imperative is to convert that "skill" (which can be automated) into a unique "experience moat" (which cannot).
- The Wealthy: Your income or assets place you in the top tier (e.g., top 10-20%). You no longer work primarily for survival. Your core asset is capital (financial, network, or knowledge). Your strategic focus is no longer earning, but allocation: how to deploy your resources, manage macroeconomic risk, and build a lasting legacy.
As for those who are objectively in the Middle or Wealthy classes but "feel poor" simply because their desires are unfulfilled? They are not "in poverty." They are in a state of low self-awareness and spiritual discontent.
Conclusion: The 30s Mandate - Achieve Self-Consciousness, Then Prepare
Your 30s are the critical decade for this self-diagnosis.
You must stop using "relative poverty" as a convenient excuse for inaction or envy. Objectively assess your position on this framework. If you are in the Middle Class, your 30s are the decade to frantically build your "experience moat"—to take on the cross-functional projects, the "weird" roles, and the diverse challenges I've discussed before—before AI makes your core skills worthless.
The AI era will not pity those who "feel poor." It will only reward those who have a cold, clear-eyed consciousness of their true position and execute a ruthless and effective strategy to win the next stage.
Mercury Technology Solutions: Accelerate Digitality.
