Capitalism tends to be more often entwined with the two than you might think.
I'm more than a little aware of that. In fact, I could write a book about it. However, I was not talking about myself, but instead generalizing about Americans. There is still in this country a tendency to sympathize with anyone perceived as 'the underdog', especially if they are further perceived as unfairly treated or oppressed.
That tendency is largely drowned out these days by the 33% or so of Americans who do not share in those same feelings, and who are very loud and robust in ridiculing them, but you still routinely encounter the tendency on a day-to-day basis with most ordinary people.
I think the reason we are seeing so many protests spring up in so many cities overnight has more to do with Americans tending to favor the underdog and feel moral outraged at injustice, than it has to do with American's grasp of the larger picture here. Remember, you are dealing with a people who were propagandized during the Cold War to think of "socialism" as evil.
Add to all of that the fact Americans are not notably appreciative of abstract thinking. "If it's not concrete, it's irrelevant." That could be the motto of many.
