Unless you consider 30-40% of the US to be rich this isn't about the rich. Although it is nice how you foist the blame onto the rich instead of all of society.

There's a quote from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn that I find insightful:

"The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts. ..."

quartz countertops are popular because they are cheaper than other types of countertops while looking expensive.

this is like the Shein of counters. wealthy people probably use natural stone.

Quartz countertops are more expensive than natural granite. They're only cheaper than something like Marble.

Quartz is also strictly a better material: it's not as porous as granite, much much harder than marble (marble can be scratched so easily), and can be made into almost any color or pattern.

Super rich folks may prefer natural stone, but not because it's a better material... it may be preferred because it's a worse material in many cases. The cost and fragility is part of the allure by itself.

it's more stain resistant but it's an unnatural engineered material.

What does that have to do with anything? It's a better material. Many materials are engineered to make them better. Steel isn't 'natural' either in that regard.

Natural stone contains silica too, so it's not clear that these workers would be silicosis-free if they'd been cutting e.g. granite instead.

Average granite is 72% quartz:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite#Chemical_composition

There won't be anyone left after 10 years of culling:

> It finds that each year homeowners remodel upwards of 10.2 million kitchens — roughly one in 10 of all households — and 14.2 million bathrooms, two of the most important rooms in a home. Further, annual new home construction adds roughly 1 million kitchens and 2.3 million bathrooms to the marketplace

National Kitchen + Bath Association (NKBA)

Some people remodel more than others. I've seen kitchens that haven't changed since 1950 (including some things that we always unsafe). I've seem people who remodel their kitchen every 3 years. 10 is average, but there are outliers in every average. There will be a lot left in 15 years, but very few in 50 years.