Well, there’s the whole “let them eat cake” narrative to go along with that - generations of uber-power and wealth don’t teach much in the way of street smarts. The French aristocracy had no personal concept or grasp or even inkling of what desperation felt like, what desperate starving people would be capable of - and there’s the true logic of it as well: after they revolted conditions did actually get worse - as everyone predicted - but that didn’t matter: as you say, there’s no point in hanging on to a pitiful existence through obesiance just because it might be more pitiful for a generation if you revolt.