Have you ever wondered how the Matrix works? How did things get this way and how do you “unplug” from the Matrix? The self-appointed rulers of the Matrix don’t want you to know the following secret: the Matrix takes advantage of the balancing principle of duality, which is a mechanical law, not an ethical one. By keeping people in ignorance of the way reality truly works, the rulers can manipulate the laws of duality to serve themselves and exploit others.
Here is how it works: duality is an equation that must — emphasize must — balance, or the whole system collapses. If you throw a gross thing like obscene wealth on one side of the equation, it needs something of equal weight on the other side, such as abject poverty. But here is the real key:

The two sides of the equation must be equal in weight but not in size.

On a mechanical scale, a tiny piece of lead can balance a huge sack of feathers. The lead is small and dense, while the feathers take up lot of volume; the feathers occupy more space than the lead, but both objects weigh the same. The rulers of the Matrix use the mechanics of duality in order to maintain their position on the top of the pyramid. In their skewed version of duality’s equation, the extravagant wealth of one man is balanced by a huge amount of people who are dirt poor: the two sides of the equation are equal in weight but not in size.

In fact, in the Matrix, wealth must be contrasted by poverty or it is not considered wealth. In the Matrix Mind, the concept of universal wealth is illogical; it is a contradiction in terms. This is because valuation is one of the guiding principles that supports the hierarchical system.