I feel like it's not exactly a problem of not caring, but rather a problem that is in fact composed of many things. For one, there's no clear solution. For another, part of why there's no clear solution is that the people that encourage the income inequality gap are very, very good at selling people who do not benefit from the income inequality gap, on the idea that they do. They're also excellent at withholding or obscuring information that would help people to fight against policies and practices that do not benefit the American public. Again, I don't know that it's that people don't care, but I do feel like it's often hard to know what to care about and certainly hard to know what one can do to make things better for the public. Plus, people have their daily worries about what it will take to get them through the day, the week, the year, the whatever. It seems to me that what the American public really needs is some strong leadership and strong allies.
Very well said. “people have their daily worries about what it will take to get them through the day, the week, the year, the whatever.” This reminds me of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. People are focused on feeding their children, keeping a roof over their heads etc. If they do find some time to think critically there’s a bevy of groups/corporations just waiting to pump them full of toxic misinformation. This is not to mention the fact that many under-class people are disenfranchised or simply don’t vote, though I have heard that is slowly changing. (Anecdotally, growing up in government housing I can recall the popular consensus being that it’s pointless to vote because “they’re all crooks anyway.”)
It's easy to see how this happens, too. It's a negative reinforcement loop; vote, nothing happens except for money being spent and the voters see none of it. Why then vote? But, that's part of how people gain confidence in marginalizing others. If people don't express opinions and do so in ways that get attention, then they are ignored or seen as accepting of whatever behaviors.This is not to mention the fact that many under-class people are disenfranchised or simply don’t vote, though I have heard that is slowly changing.