I can easily clear this up in 4 words that were the foundation of the original founders of the United States: "Don't be a bully."
Sure, they were busy trying to stop the bullying of the East India Tea Company (who owned Britain), then they were busy establishing what was economically important to a new nation for a couple of centuries, with the ups and downs that entailed (and a lot of bullying and power/money scandals), but then, we saw what fascism could really do, knocked it back a little, and made it to the 1960's and broke some paradigms. The government was exposed as a corrupt military-industrial edifice, some rules were changed about the intelligence services' responsibilities, some people started to work toward equal rights (sigh), and politicians learned to be more conniving, (like marketers and religions (yes, that's redundant)) than just Robber Barons. We are still working on that, but underneath it all is the need to stop those with power from taking advantage of those without power (or money).
The inherent meanness of unfettered competition is why sports have rules. It's why our Bill of Rights exists. It's why parents make the older kids stop beating the younger kids (sometimes).
Humans are using carbon, and it is because we don't have anything to limit our competitive consumption behaviors (unrestricted war on Nature).
Education won't do it. Politicians won't convince people to change if their re-election depends on the status quo.
People need to know the threats they both cause and face, with honesty and fairness. They need to know those threats at the point they create them, in order to make different choices (sales tax).
People need to be comfortable enough in their communities to work cooperatively. That means we have to pay them to be good citizens (UBI). It means they shouldn't have to look at everyone they meet as a potential target (competitor), and know that everyone gets the same size check to work with, and to combine their checks to do more if they choose.
You're right: we don't need to futz around with every piddling complaint and special interest that is being victimized or exploited:
We just have to stop feeding those who bully the weak. That means sales taxes to prevent the hyperrich from getting that way in the first place, and UBI to support good citizenship.
