The humans have casually enslaved the inhabitants, who are peaceful, physically slight, with a subsistence-level material culture.
Imagine the benefits if all of America were to adopt the same philosophy, or pursue big, ambitious ideas such as guaranteeing all Americans a subsistence-level income.
Like the earlier proposals, so-called progressive price indexing would transform Social Security into a subsistence-level benefit, largely unrelated to prior earnings.
Darger lived at a subsistence level that made Van Gogh's life look luxurious.
If I am to be utterly impartial to all human beings, then I should reduce my own family's life to a subsistence level, just above the poverty line, and distribute the surplus wealth to needy strangers.
"There's no comfort in living on a subsistence level," Mr. Dumpson said.
Judge Korman ruled that many of those survivors were living at a subsistence level, some fighting off starvation.
Generally, the low‐paid immigrant laborers from South India have been been living at a subsistence level for generations.
"There's no comfort in living on a subsistence level," he fired back.
His village was poor, with many families living at a subsistence level.
So you have this developing urban structure, complex developing, bureaucratic urban structure that's now being superimposed on the agricultural life, and that leads to all sorts of class distinctions and class divisions between officials, bureaucrats, merchants, large-scale landowners who are prospering perhaps, smaller farmers and shepherds who are living at more of a subsistence level.
