Poverty is maximized by capitalism. In capitalism we see a complete disregard for human rights like food, water, and shelter, 32,000,000 people basically starve in the wealthiest country in the world. People are like books. The higher up they are, the less they are needed. Our world depends only on workers, people who sell their labor hourly.
It is the workers who should own and run society, not a few wealthy elite who destroy lives the way your story described.