I'd be interested to hear from some of the more well-off people here: what would be a good approach to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich?
Someone in this thread proposed changing the law, which seems to be a bit hard. The 80,000 hours crew suggests that a privileged individual must change society by their own ideas, which seems a bit risky (and using big money to do so seems debatable at best). Some Christians try to help a few poor people in their vicinity, often without regard for the bigger picture, which might be valid, but that possibly requires some deity to believe in.
From my continental European perspective, talking about the US-centric variation of the problem described in the article (the problem certainly exists everywhere, but it comes in surprisingly different shapes): I don't think it's possible, not without dismantling the ideological base of that "American dream" which claims that everybody can make it. That's super nice and positive on the bright side, but unfortunately it's impossible to separate from its implication "everybody who did not make it has nobody to blame but themselves".
On the other hand, even within that framework, I think that the American mindset could be better, ask more "whom did you trick to get that success", ask a little more how a fortune was made instead of blindly celebrating each and every success until proven guilty of breaking the law. But this has very little to do with what the article is about, perhaps a tiny connection could be constructed with the housing chapter but even that would be a rather weak link.
> Someone in this thread proposed changing the law, which seems to be a bit hard
There isn't much else you can do though.
More fundamentally, the reason the laws doesn't adapt to the poor here is the implementation of democracy, if politicians has to cater to poor people or get voted out then you start to see more laws and regulations to support this group.
> what would be a good approach to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich?
I may be speaking out of turn as I am not "rich", but I have known a few people who would be considered the "part of the 1%".
Let them develop communication skills with people that are their intellectual, but not necessarily social, peers. Broad social appeal is where the opportunities are. Take poor people out of their element and be accepting of their awkwardness. Question their assumptions in a non-threatening environment and let them grow. Let them mix with people who are not so easily offended, nor unhappy.
Many of the rich aren't so different and think about the same topics all the time, yet often just have a different and more constructive perspective.
The "Jobs" section of the article would play out very differently in Europe, because the labor laws are different. (By which I mean continental western Europe - the UK is going more and more the American way.)
Someone in this thread proposed changing the law, which seems to be a bit hard. The 80,000 hours crew suggests that a privileged individual must change society by their own ideas, which seems a bit risky (and using big money to do so seems debatable at best). Some Christians try to help a few poor people in their vicinity, often without regard for the bigger picture, which might be valid, but that possibly requires some deity to believe in.
What do you people typically do to help?