When I entered engineering in the early 2010s, I quickly started earning more than my parents and their parents did combined at their peak incomes. Hearing my background, most of my peers who weren't immigrants from south/near asia, africa, or latin america seemed surprised that life in the USA could be so "third world" in their words.
I always get a chuckle reading things by these VC types who grew up in upper middle class homes very far from impoverished people and their views on both the problems communities they've never interacted with will face and/or how to solve those problems, as recent as yesterday's post by sama on how innovation will end poverty.
Based on my experiences with people's depth on the subject, I think you have a half decent litmus test.
I always get a chuckle reading things by these VC types who grew up in upper middle class homes very far from impoverished people and their views on both the problems communities they've never interacted with will face and/or how to solve those problems, as recent as yesterday's post by sama on how innovation will end poverty.
Based on my experiences with people's depth on the subject, I think you have a half decent litmus test.