I'm going to give an incredibly simplistic answer, and if I'm way off base, I'm sure someone will correct me. The ruling class believes its own lies; it believes rules because it is deserving -- just like kings used to believe that they ruled by divine right. The profit margins are shrinking, in order for the plunder to continue, they have to fleece somebody; they have to get their cut somewhere. They've already fleeced the third world; they've already fleeced the industrial and service workers of the U.S. Who is left? Why the "professional" classes of course. The programmers, the analysts, the system administrators, etc. Why not? There are after all no social principles left, no political breaks left. The ruling class is unopposed, so they think they can do whatever they want. It's a race against time of course, eventually it will all crumble, but in the meanwhile....the FORCE is the shrinking margin of profit.
The jobs are leaving. They are going, going, gone. I flatter myself that because technical writing still fares best when done by a very skilled English speaker/writer, my job will be secure for a while. But, as my office mate puts it, "who says they give a shit about quality?" The best programmer I know was out of work for a year. He's now working for a company that may go under in the next month or so. And then?
Yours for the great awakening,
Joanna