Because otherwise the dirty peasants will invent rationales for dragging them out into the streets and murdering them. It isn't always easy to predict when it

Because otherwise the dirty peasants will invent rationales for dragging them out into the streets and murdering them. It isn't always easy to predict when it will happen, but horrifying, deplorable violence seems to be the only way for the lower classes to effectively reduce wealth inequality. Some people are getting nervous enough to buy land in New Zealand or condo space in hardened apocalypse-survival bunkers. They know whose heads will roll if the guillotines ever get reassembled. They don't actually want to voluntarily give up their wealth, because they know how their peers treat those that don't have it, and because being constantly surrounded by luxuries is addictively awesome. So we're frequently stuck in the situation where the poor think they're poor because the rich are too rich, and the rich don't care about what the poor think, because they're too busy kite-surfing in warm turquoise waters, buying recreational estates in Kauai, pitching giant museums to major cities, and generally living the good life. The rich don't actually need to give up their wealth, but they might want to consider paying closer attention to the zeitgeist, and backing off on meddling too obviously in the lives of others at the appropriate times. Just like you might closely monitor the weather on your giant yacht, and make for port whenever a storm is brewing, you monitor the political climate and shelter your wealth when necessary.