Prices of food, water and housing are adapted to each reality. A Toyota and Samsung are needless piles of junk we somehow are lured into value. Believing that a Toyota and a Samsung is needed and assuming I'm white makes you the caricature you are talking about.
And for the notice I'd been and lived on really poor countries... to see people that somehow were happy without a Toyota and a Samsung... and happier than many people I know with a Toyota or other brand and a Samsung or even iPhone.
The point is prices dont adjust because of locality especially when producers are foreign
I didn't say people are happier if they own a phone or a car. Im saying things like personal transportation and telephony can be a prerequisite to starting business. Because the huge gap of cost between these things and the local wages these people have no choice but to sell their labor for cheap because barrier to entry is too high to start a business.
Youre idea that $30 per month shouldnt be considered poverty if the median income is nonsense and ignores economic realties.