If national success cannot be felt in the kitchens, clinics, and classrooms of poor households, then it is not success at all. The most honest measure of a nation’s progress should be how a poor household prospers in real terms not in headlines, not in averages, but in lived reality. Prospering in real terms means sustained improvements after accounting for inflation, volatility, and risk. A success metric grounded in real terms would ask: Has the cost of a nutritious food basket fallen relative to wages? It should be evident in the steady improvement of the poorest households’ real lives.

Source: The Patriot January 10, 2026 20:10 UTC