>It sucks. But what's the alternative? It's perfectly reasonable to drag people out of poverty. But the idea that everyone should be able to do the same things implies a set of "things" very different from what, say, the middle class families on my suburban street do today.

Exactly. The "eternal growing of the economic cake" which the majority of the related policies are based on, ignores limits to growth (e.g. energy, rare materials, food, etc.) and doesn't care about externalities.

Under that model 10 billion people could all live like middle class Californians eventually.

(Religious-like faith in technology, and "it worked thus far so it will work forever" wishful thinking also play a role - it also helps to ignore the law of diminishing returns and low hanging fruits).

Under reality, there will be huge cutting back and, quite possibly, big human toll, before we reach a livable equilibrium.