Comment by nyokodo

Basically all of humanity was in extreme poverty until a rapid uptick in living standards started coincident with the industrial revolution that has exploded in the last 40 years. The uptick was because worker productivity aided by machines is vastly greater than in subsistence farming, and industrial production is far more efficient than pre-industrial. This combination has lead to a miracle in the rising of human living standards. To suggest that capitalism put people into extreme poverty is pure ideological distortion.