Question

In the Mishnah and the Talmud there are quite a few mishnayot that deal with the laws regarding an am ha’aretz, his reliability, and how a haver should relate to various situations involving him, etc.
I’m trying to understand: is the reality of the am ha’aretz an inevitable reality, and therefore the Mishnah teaches us how to function within that reality,
or is it a bedi’avad reality, meaning they do not have to be that way, and only because right now they are that way does the Mishnah teach us how to conduct ourselves with them?
That is, the Mishnah’s broad engagement with amei ha’aretz sometimes makes me think that this is simply part of reality itself (for some unknown reason), but my intuitionhas a hard time accepting that, and so I’m asking what your opinion is, please.