I think part of this is that the S&P 500 is the largest 500 by capital. It's not a perfect analogy but it is sort of like how wealthy people can live off inter

I think part of this is that the S&P 500 is the largest 500 by capital. It's not a perfect analogy but it is sort of like how wealthy people can live off interest/dividends of their investments where no one else can afford to live like that. So there is a Worldcom or Enron or Toys R US or Sears or Montgomery Wards every once in a while to totally collapse but something like Kodak can go through a long period on top until it declines when its moat declines or even two of the three car manufacturers in the USA and most of the major financial institutions would have gone bankrupt without government intervention in the last 20 years.