The economy has greatly reduced the number of people with disposable income to be able to invest in the stock market.
You absolutely cannot look around yourself and say that the gains to these sainted middle class individual investors is relevant to the health of the overall economy, and you can not be naive enough to think that the actions of these people have any effect on the DOW.
The DOW has raised largely through Fed shenanigans and companies making conservative moves like buying their own stock or just holding big piles of cash due to uncertainty about new regulations and trying to wait out the pathetic lack of an economic recovery. None of this is good for the overall economy.
Lots of times, it gets invested before it ever hits their pay check.
/johnny