The poor have no economic power - the government of today cannot hear their plight. I think the electorate has become self-centered and each demographic is looking out for itself, but that does not mean people are bad -- they simply lack leadership. Pundits are so well directed to their respective demographics that it is harder for an effective leader to overcome the multiple voices, but sooner or later I think a strong voice will emerge to say: " the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness depend on economic power and therefore we the people must guarantee a measure of economic power to all our fellows - a guaranteed income". If we can figure out how to make this a workable program despite that the first beneficiaries are sometimes-unpopular minority groups, we can assure the future wellbeing of all people - because in another 15 years almost NOBODY will have jobs; they will be done by robots and other automated systems.