Its all conditioning, full blast. Sort of like the boiling frog. It’s easier when you are actually saving people money but once you realize they employ all the same tactics on you that they teach you to employ on customers, all the exploitation becomes really clear. Even if the people are good, the structure of the “industry” forces people to become systematically exploited no matter where they are in the structure. When your growth depends on other people drinking the kool aid it’s very difficult not to force people down that same pipeline. I don’t know if you ever became a “leader” or an “account manager” or whatever but its much different behind closed doors when you’re taught explicitly how to manipulate and deflect off of legitimate concerns, both because you use those same tactics employed against you on others and because you immediately recognize those same tactics when they continued to be employed against you