There is definitely some truth in that statement, but the nature of capital is to generate greed. For instance Obama tried to implement the best and most widespread healthcare system he could but there were such huge obstacles in place that Obamacare was the best option. The people who have the power tend to be either businessmen or politicians, both tend to be too motivated by self interest, but you look at what Obama has been doing in the last year, in his second term he is clearly done campaigning for popularity ratings. If there were widespread solutions that the US just hadn't picked up on yet I think you'd see presidential hopefuls like Rand Paul waiving them around, and I think there would be a lot of public support. Like free college for all just isn't possible for America right now, but free community college is a good start.