I think the point may be that average (and averagely educated) people tend to be easily sold on the idea that many things are a zero-sum game. That they will ha

I think the point may be that average (and averagely educated) people tend to be easily sold on the idea that many things are a zero-sum game. That they will have a worse life if someone else has a better one. Many political campaigns rely on this idea. They always need to create an "enemy", a reason why you're not doing well, and that reason is usually pinned on the least likely to be able to fight it, the poor, the disenfranchised. So the idealistic approach is that "sure, everyone should have a better life". The practical approach is that "I have to pay from my own pocket for some lazies have a better life". And when you put it that way it suddenly looks a lot like "the average person doesn't want a better life for all".