But I do really like that these researchers have put the test online for people to try!
Thanks for sharing, it's an interesting experience.
As you mention for now it's really easy to tell humans and AIs apart, but I found it surprisingly hard to convince people I was human.
I think a main argument related to that perspective is that you shouldn't tax wealth but you should tax consumption (holding billions in stocks and bonds has positive externalities, buying a yacht fleet has negative externalities)
I obviously don't agree with it, so I'm likely not presenting the strongest version of the arguments, but you can see an example of people holding this view in the twitter screenshot above, and I think it's not uncommon
Yes that's a fair point. Do you think the claim itself is false?
I was under the impression that many YMBY/Abundance/Progress Studies-minded EA communities were operating with that theory of change, am I wrong?
Thanks for replying with data. I think what matters for EA fundraising strategy is the relative share of wealth in the top 0.1% and in the top 1% (or maybe top 10%), it's great that the share of wealth in the bottom 50% is increasing, but I don't expect many there to be significant donors (with important but rare exceptions).
It's also not clear to me how liquid is the wealth in social insurance programs, I don't expect it to be a viable source of donations/influence/impact (but of course it's great that more people are covered by insurance)
I also think that I was mistaken to mention "the last decades", as "the last 5-10 years" seems a more relevant time frame for changes in EA strategy.
In my opinion the perception that inequality is increasing could also be due to relative comparisons between the top 1%-10% and the top 0.1%-0.01%, as the former becomes relatively less influential.
Another random anecdote: I was reading the Wikipedia page of an ultramarathon runner, and apparently her father is a famous mathematician
While both are rich by global standards, someone in the top 10% ($20k/year) and someone in the top 1% (>$60k/year) have very different abilities to donate.
This becomes even more noticeable as relatively less rich people also often have to support their families, pay off debts, and can't rely on a future inheritance.
ETA: One org used to ask something like: "if you earned $50k, how much would you donate and why?" which imho mitigates this (although not perfectly)