Something the US is missing – non-financial rewards for those who contribute to society.
The UK gives various honors, the most well-known of which is a knighthood. The number of people receiving UK / Commonwealth honors is extensive. The only medals in the US are in the military.
If people can gain respect and prestige outside of financial meritocracy, it will help to end inequality. But while the only reward is rocket ships and super yachts…
How Would It Work?
The categories should be wide and the levels of reward deep. The Presidential Medal would be on par with a knighthood or Nobel prize. But other awards could occur, at state levels perhaps.
The system is very non-partisan, and favoritism according to which party is in power happens, but is rare, and inconsequential. In the UK:
The committees are composed of senior civil servants and independent experts in specific fields. The majority of the honours committees are non-civil servants.
Each subcommittee oversees nominations for its specialised area: Arts and Media; Community, Voluntary and Local Services; Economy; Education; Health; Parliamentary and Political Service; Science and Technology; Sport; and State.
The individual committees assess the nominations and pass the nominations to the Main Honours Committee, whose members select the final list of nominations that are passed to the Queen by the Prime Minister.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honours_Committee
An easy example of who would get a Presidential Medal would be a Republican president awarding it to Jimmy Carter for his work in fighting homelessness. Everyone would applaud that, and it could only reduce divisiveness in the US.
The Media would then be able to to say Presidential Medalist Jimmy Carter in the same way as they feel compelled to obsessively tell us that Elon Musk happens to be a billionaire.