Is 'The Economy' winning over equity?

It seems that we are now ‘an economy’ and no longer ‘a community’, which is extremely sad as well as worrying.
Listening to a television discussion last night, people spoke about how property development and real estate dealing had overtaken more social aspects of life (in Australia and the globe) over the past decade or so.

And it starts us wondering just WHO is leading this change and WHY.
Of course, it all leads to money being the driving force of whatever is happening.
Any idea of equality has seemingly disappeared as people clamber over others to climb the ladder of wealth.

We are told (lectured, sometimes) all sorts of theories about how to successfully ‘progress’ in this new world.
Sadly, it has been proved again and again, that the notion of the (economical) “trickle down effect” is a lie. Money never ‘trickles down’ to those in the lower socio-economic section.
The mantra of “if you have a go, you get a go” is total nonsense – and one example I have seen up close, is in rural areas, where farmers certainly “have a go” to amazing extents, but who will never, ever achieve an income of over half a million $ p.a. as is ‘earned’ by a certain PM.

Pondering the idea of social equity, I found this definition:
“Social Equity is the active commitment to fairness, justice, and equality in the formulation of public policy, distribution of public services, implementation of public policy, and management of all institutions serving the public…”
Can’t see much of that happening lately.

Writing from Robben Island, way back in 1970, long before being released, Nelson Mandela said: “I am influenced more than ever before by the conviction that social equality is the only basis of human happiness.”
 
I think he may be right.
But, then again, people who mine the land into oblivion, becoming billionaires, seem to be happy. Are they? With more than enough money to last many lifetimes, they have multiple opportunities to bring happiness to millions of their countrymen and women and yet …. and yet….
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I have to admit, it has only recently that I tried to understand the true meaning of the word, ‘kleptocracy’  - and I am wondering if we are now living in such a state.
The Cambridge dictionary defines kleptocracy as “a society whose leaders make themselves rich and powerful by stealing from the rest of the people”
 
Heck! Is this what we have become?
I don’t think I like it.