I'm not sure if it's not understanding poverty or actively not caring. The US is do divided that I think the sympathy level between the "elites" and "real America" might be so low that many actually care more about Manta Rays going extinct than people in there middle of the country having a life worth living. Who doesn't prefer seeing a Manta Ray over losing an election?

I feel this might be the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about. We need to address this very badly.