This is not the case at present. A central feature of the spirit of the time is the emphasis placed on monetary worth as the principal determinant of value for individuals and societies. The dominant modern culture has endowed money, in itself and as a source of consumption, possession and power, with all the virtues of a benevolent deity. Absolute poverty may thus decline worldwide in the coming decades. But this optimistic view assumes that environmental degradation will be halted, depletion of natural resources controlled, and human ingenuity mobilized to develop new techniques and products for sustaining a larger world population.
Poverty is lived as deprivation in comparison with the lifestyles of the middle and upper classes.
The standards disseminated by global capitalism are increasingly high, while reflecting patterns of production and consumption that are likely to be unsustainable even in the medium term. Poverty is growing with materialism and egoism. The Social Summit was perhaps the last major conference in which it was considered legitimate to call for the elimination of poverty without changing the direction and meaning of development and progress. The reduction of inequalities has virtually disappeared from public discourse during the last quarter of this century, with the notable exception of equality between women and men. Gender equality has gathered significant political and sociological momentum, in part because it may be seen as compatible with the basic tenets of the neo-liberal credo.