First, for most of the people in (political, economic...) power, their main (only?) motivation is a sadistic need to "punch the poor in the face" and they enjoy it.  

Second, a significant number of people are by essence, psychopaths who "enjoy punching the poor in the face" and, in the current system, they tend to reach powerful positions. Conversely, other people are immune from this "disease", and deserve to be in power without any risk for them to abuse this power.

Am I rightly understanding your vision of society?

"People only accept change when they are faced with necessity, and only recognize necessity when a crisis is upon them." - Jean Monnet