Hypothesis:
Maybe that the reason for "the system" being entrenched and the people being "engrained in their old ways" is simply that the system works and the people are happy. Maybe communism isn't that hot. That you would not want to force it on people is commendable. But why is it such an absurd thing to think that the status quo is the best thing around? Are so many people who don't want to radically alter it all stupid or mean?
We both agree that America has it good these days. If you are going to tell me about human relationships, I would appreciate a line of reasoning by which you came to conclude that increased wealth has adverse effects on them. Genital mutilation of women in poor countries happens for very practical reasons, as does cannibalism among the shipwrecked. I can explain both these practices by abject poverty and I can predict that increased wealth will eliminate them. I will welcome any counter-example of generosity or any noble trait of the poor that can be predicted to disappear when they get rich.
