if there is anything that I have learned in the past 8 years, it is that the American tolerance for capitalist fuckery has a much higher threshold than I would have predicted, provided that there is someone worse off who we can look down on
Why are they cowards? Why would they care if it doesn't affect their daily lives? Obviously some people care, but the majority would indeed just shrug and go back to making ends meet.
This comes down to the good old "keep the masses fed". People are being given just the right amount of wealth. Not enough to be free and not too little to revolt.
If the profits of the company were predominantly distributed to the workers-as-owners then they probably won't be mandating 5% year-on-year profit growth or chasing an ever growing share price.
They could, but it'd be themselves they'll be exploiting.
Where there is an "out of sight out of mind" separation between the owners (shareholders, board, CxO's) and workers then exploitation is invisible and the money is the only important aspect.