I have a thought on this. A possible way out that allows the vanquished a bit of dignity without conceding to them. It is in fact the main focus of my own writings.
A Universal Basic Income can and should be based on investment and return on investment. It allows a partial public ownership of private corporations, but not enough to have controlling interest. In the mid to long term, such a scheme becomes self funding, and provides a safety net for everyone.
This in itself will not alleviate all of the problems you've written about, but it will take some of the consequences away from all sides, particularly the poor.
It's very easy to hate your neighbor if you have little or nothing, and some jackass or republican (but I repeat myself) is telling you over and over again "it's that unperson's fault!"
This has been the GOP strategy for my whole life. I don't know how old you are, but judging by what I've read of you, I expect we're around the same age. Gen X. But you had the experiences of living in other countries and not looking white. I look white, so to most of those ... Nah, I won't use those words here but I lack anything not vulgar that expresses it well... think I'm one of 'em.
But even given that... My parents were lower middle class when I was young, and poor rather quickly. The poor are given scapegoats at all turns. Anyone, it seems, but the ultra wealthy who are pulling the strings. They are not the enemy, we're told, it's that black/brown/yellow/poor/gay/etc guy over there.
Of course, the person we're supposed to hate is probably in the same leaky boat, or holding on to a bit of driftwood, and actually has no influence on our lives at all.
Divide and conquer is a good military strategy, but it's no way to run a nation. Then again, those at the top don't care to run the nation, they care to gain unearned power over literally everyone.
By establishing an initially tax funded UBI, we can take away a lot of their power.
Like most things that are wrong with America, we don't lack the solutions, we lack the will. Collectively. Some of us have it, some of us would use it should we find a way to do so.
