I had this realization later than you. What finally clicked for me is that power dynamics form a positive feedback loop that naturally compounds inequality. If

I had this realization later than you. What finally clicked for me is that power dynamics form a positive feedback loop that naturally compounds inequality. If you have a little more power, the natural thing do with that power is to coerce/force/encourage/persuade others to give you a little more. The longer you let that system iterate, the greater the power imbalance. This is why the majority of human history has had massive inequality. Every now and then, an event happens that goes against that. For example, WWII destroyed massive amounts of physical infrastructure, so it was a force towards equality. Those with more to lose did lose more. (Heart-breakingly, the pandemic is the exact opposite, since COVID-19 doesn't harm material goods, just people.) One kind of event is a rapid technological change. These work sort of like a rainstorm for power. All of a sudden, bits of empowerment from the new technology rain down semi-randomly onto humanity. Anyone with a cup to catch it gets some. The early Internet was like this. But, eventually, the system iterates like it always does and eventually those with a bit more power use it to build the rain catchment systems and gutters to route that new power over to themselves. Sometimes, this gets routed to new powerful people who were the ones who caught a lot of the early rain. But the technology itself ceases to be a force for equality. This is where we are today with the Internet.