In contemporary political discourse, “income inequality” has become the rallying cry of policymakers, pundits, and activists alike. Headlines scream about the richest 1% hoarding wealth, while the middle class struggles to keep pace. Politicians frame elections around the moral imperative to “close the gap,” as if the mere existence of inequality is tantamount to injustice. Yet, the obsession with income inequality frequently masks a deeper failure of reasoning: the conflation of income inequality with poverty. This conceptual error is not merely academic; it drives policy decisions that are at best misdirected, at worst harmful. Understanding the distinction between inequality and poverty is essential to formulating interventions that genuinely uplift those in need, rather than satisfying a moral pretense of fairness.