because we, mere thousandaires and paupers alike, live in a separate reality from the ultra-wealthy. The rich and poor-and-middle-class might as well be living

because we, mere thousandaires and paupers alike, live in a separate reality from the ultra-wealthy. The rich and poor-and-middle-class might as well be living on different planets. When a benefits cheater somehow gets free housing or spends foodstamps on lobster, we ordinary citizens can see that and relate to that. "That could have been my house or my dinner!" We can see the cheaters on the street and imagine ourselves in their place. We can relate. But when a faceless corporation we've never heard of hides umptillions in a place we've never heard of, somehow the impact is lost. Ask an average joe on the street the difference between a million, a billion and a trillion and you will be answered with shrugs. We don't see how that money flows from one holding company to another and we fail to connect that to the broader economy, and this illusion has been perpetuated by hidden class of venal, remorseless, well-educated and very smart mercenaries beholden by law and their shareholders to accumulate every last speck of capital. This state of affairs is not new in America- Kurt Vonnegut recognized the phenomenon 50 years ago https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/158414-america-is-the-wealthiest-nation-on-earth-but-its-people https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/158414-america-is-the-wealt...