Mayan 1%ers were good; today they are "bad"

I was watching a PBS show on "The Search for the Lost Maya" and it showed discoveries of the northern Maya ruins. The archeology team was excited to find ruins that showed the wealth of the ancient culture. It hit me that they'd found the mansions/palaces of the Mayan 1%ers and they were so happy to proclaim that "This was a civilization of wealth". It showed that they were advanced.
I found it strange that today the "PBS" crowd tends to dislike the 1% crowd (except when they want donations). The 1%ers today are viewed by some as the sign of an inferior culture that needs to "progress". The archeologist saw the wealth as a good sign; today some see wealth as evil. It all seemed rather odd.