There was a show on a while ago about the life of the pioneer colonist in America.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/frontierhouse/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontier_House

It's an amazing show that really goes into how hard subsistence, self-reliant living is. At one point one of the families becomes so desperate for some relief that they sneak in a box spring mattress.

Most of the people I know who have very poor opinions of the poor could probably learn quite a bit by spending 4-6 months living on a poor person's time and money budget without the safety net of their otherwise prosperous lives. I'm sure some of them would sneak a credit or ATM card into production.

It'd actually make a great TV show I'd bet.