Cost of living does not seem to factor in that argument at all.  Someone who makes $5000 a year in Guatemala or Nepal arguably has a higher quality of living than someone barely scraping by on a working class (less than $40K) income in a developed country.

$32K a year in Los Angeles and New York is only going to get you a moldy basement with roommates or a dingbat apartment built back in the 1950s.   Whereas you can live like a king in a lot of third world countries at a $100 to $300 a month budget.