[cocoto]

Completely false, the money to help the poorest people comes from the rich ones, so you are poorer if the gap is smaller. But at some point too many poor people can make a country hard to live for the richest (crimes for example)

[mullingitover]

This statement is equally true if you swap poor and rich.

[mmooss]

> money to help the poorest people comes from the rich ones

It comes largely from the middle and working classes, who pay a higher tax rate than wealthy people.

> many poor people can make a country hard to live for the richest (crimes for example)

I'm not convinced that poverty causes crime. It might be lack of public services, such as health care, shelter, food, education (creating social mobility), safety net, etc.

[michaelmrose]

The richest or the merely rich can trivially insulate themselves from meaningful risk even in crime ridden hell holes. As far as the rest of us in the US crime has been on a steep decline for decades regardless of the blip in 2020.

There are only ever too many poors in America by virtue of inequality.