It's a good reminder, thanks for bringing it up. It's a strategic thing and, more importantly, a humane thing. We should be doing what we can to uplift the most downtrodden, which means empowering, educating, building ties, etc. As opposed to looking at it in a distanced charity sort of way, the way that the capitalist class does.
I think many Chauvinists dismiss the lumpen because they toss them a book and expect class consciousness to sort it out. It’s not that simple, change needs structure that supports it.
I think this is in some ways a symptom of individualism, the tendency to approach it in this way. You could have 50 people read the same book independently and draw wildly different interpretations. Education is an organized process, not a matter of pointing in a vague direction and hoping.