You are fogetting the 3rd point. Remember, the majority of the poor don't stay poor. They are very upwardly mobile in America and more of the people that are in the poorest quintile move out of the poorest quintile than stay in it. Even more incredibly more of the people that are in the poorest quintile end up in the richest quintile than stay in the poorest quintile. Relatively, they end up MUCH better off relative to their start and to their neighbors more often than not. Even for people who look at the world with envy and comparison, they tend to become better off.