I find that that there similar bias for acknowledging "altruistic" rich peope. Say if Beyonce donates a million dollars to a charitable cause, newspapers will write about it and people will admire her. However, seen from a economic point of view, people like Beyonce are is some sense 'invincible', giving a million USD is not really much a risk or a sacrifice, when you are worth several hundres million USD.
It is of course worth noting that a lot of good can be done for a million USD when compared the to the 100 USD that a low-income person might be able to produce. However, in terms of admiration, I have the sense that we fail to admire the small altruists, who might go to greater personal sacrifices to donate 'trivial sums' to charities.
(And yes, I know I am here far far too late to participate in the discussion)
I find that that there similar bias for acknowledging "altruistic" rich peope. Say if Beyonce donates a million dollars to a charitable cause, newspapers will write about it and people will admire her. However, seen from a economic point of view, people like Beyonce are is some sense 'invincible', giving a million USD is not really much a risk or a sacrifice, when you are worth several hundres million USD. It is of course worth noting that a lot of good can be done for a million USD when compared the to the 100 USD that a low-income person might be able to produce. However, in terms of admiration, I have the sense that we fail to admire the small altruists, who might go to greater personal sacrifices to donate 'trivial sums' to charities.
(And yes, I know I am here far far too late to participate in the discussion)