The newspapers are full of statistics about how many people are living in poverty, which is defined only by income: $11,139 for a single person and $22,314 for a family of four.  But the circumstances of other factors are not at all considered.  Let’s reflect on them a bit, since I’m roughly at the poverty level for a single person. First, I’m mystified by that...

When I first came to Montana, aged 21, all frisky and up for anything, there were pads of counter checks at all the stores — you wrote in the name of the bank and kept your balance register in your head. Your change came in silver dollars so your pockets were always a little baggy and clinked. If you had an overdraft, the bank called you up, you jumped in the pickup...