And most of those bigwigs, including the initiator of the post-Maoist economic reforms Deng Xiaoping were themselves victimized by the Maoist faction and their Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution.
In Deng Xiaoping’s case, his oldest son ended up being driven/flung out of a third story window at Beijing U by Red Guards while a university student and became permanently crippled as a result.
In light of that historical/factional context, there wasn’t much inclination to help factions/social groups who were formerly heavily favored/privileged during the Cultural Revolution…the rural farmers/laborers. Especially when many of the post-Mao party bigwigs were themselves persecuted or ordered around to perform manual labor by those very formerly privileged groups.