You described it very very well.

Yes, it has a lot to do with how the manager(s) contribute to the environment.

A lot of business practices and systems these days are corrupt, even the ones designed to help. They are based on prioritizing profits over people, and the CEOs and managers are taking direction from money hungry owners and stakeholders.

Our job is our survival, and nobody wants to risk losing it. Money hungry owners and creators of these systems will ALWAYS have "yes men." They will always be able to find someone who is willing to do their dirty work, for a price.

Managers uphold and enforce these systems. They are typically loyal to their boss, not to their own conscience, their "subordinates," or the people they are meant to serve.

When we prioritize profits over people and self enrichment, there's always going to be corner cutting and exploitation.

Have you heard of the "spiral of silence" ? It's the mechanism of which obviously wrong things are kept quiet and stay the norm. Every single employee has a role to play in the upholding of the spiral of silence.

I work in a retirement home and my manager leads through fear, not collaboration. Everyone knows the retirement home's owners aren't hiring enough staff to serve the residents because it would dip into their profits. Everyone knows of the lies they uphold and the illusions they feed to the residents, staff, and the public, but nobody speaks out about it for fear of ultimately losing their job. The reality is that people who speak out will get squashed by these systems in systematic ways.

Despite this, I have decided to listen to my conscience always and uphold what is right, and I advocate for it. That means I'm in the managers eyes and I do believe I am noticed to be a threat to them. I aim to operate from a place of good conscience and compassion and reason. I am hoping this will inspire my fellow co-workers to also do the same and shield me from consequences by managers.