There are a few ways to approach this question, but one of the biggest shifts is in how capitalists relate to society and their own position within it. Engels and Owen, despite their wealth, saw themselves as part of a broader social world, with responsibilities to the working class. Today’s elite, by contrast, often see themselves as separate from the rest of society, detached from the struggles of ordinary people. This shift is the result of multiple historical and structural changes:

1. The Rise of Financial Capitalism & Shareholder Primacy

• In Engels’ and Owen’s time, industrialists often owned and operated their factories directly. They saw firsthand the working conditions of their employees. Their wealth was tied to the success and well-being of their workers—if workers were too sick or underfed to work, production suffered.

• Today, most business leaders are financialized—they work through corporate structures that separate them from direct production. Their wealth comes from stocks, dividends, and speculative financial markets rather than running factories. The focus is on maximizing shareholder value, which means cutting labor costs rather than investing in workers.

2. The Ideological Shift Toward Neoliberalism

• In the 19th century, there was still an active debate about how industrialization should be structured—whether capitalism needed reform or even replacement.

• Today’s elites largely embrace neoliberalism, which teaches that the market is the only legitimate arbiter of success and failure. Under this model, personal wealth is justified as a sign of superior ability, and social responsibility is minimized. The rich see philanthropy, not structural change, as the way to "give back."

3. The Decline of the Bourgeois Public Sphere

• Figures like Engels and Owen were shaped by the public intellectual culture of their time—salons, debating societies, radical newspapers. Industrialists interacted directly with socialists, anarchists, and reformers. Even if they were capitalists, they were forced to engage with opposing ideas.

• Today’s elite culture is much more insulated. Wealthy people live in gated communities, send their kids to exclusive schools, and engage in politics mainly through lobbying rather than public discourse. There’s no need to engage with radical critiques—they exist in a bubble.

4. The Role of Globalization

• Engels and Owen dealt with local workers. Their factories were in Britain and Germany, and their workers were visible.

• Today’s billionaires rely on global supply chains. They don’t see the people making their products because those workers are in Bangladesh, Vietnam, or Mexico. There’s no direct moral pressure to improve conditions when the suffering is far away.

5. The Psychological & Cultural Shifts of Elites

• 19th-century industrialists were often first-generation capitalists—they had lived through struggle and understood the working class. They had to justify their success in moral or intellectual terms.

• Today’s ultra-rich tend to be inheritors or financial manipulators who have never experienced real hardship. They see their wealth as natural, rather than something to be justified.

6. The Weakening of Organized Labor & Political Movements

• Engels and Owen responded to a time when workers were mobilized, forming unions and engaging in radical political movements.

• Today, unions are much weaker in many countries, and the left is often divided. There’s less pressure on the wealthy to consider the working class because organized opposition is less visible.

Conclusion

The difference is not that rich people today are inherently crueler than they were in Engels’ time. It’s that the structures of capitalism have changed in a way that removes them from direct moral responsibility. Empathy requires proximity—Engels saw suffering up close, while today's elites manage numbers on spreadsheets. The more abstract suffering becomes, the easier it is to ignore.