It's all about pride, my friend. "Look at me... I care so much more for the little man than you..."
Really dumb, typical Democratic populism, and terrible economic policy.
I don't think it's about pride. We all know that a heap of compost cares more about the little man than you do.
Why didn't the Founding Fathers just put into place an aristocracy and a whole different Constitution that wasn't about "the people"? Why did they allow tariffs?