I'd like to signal boost @BarneyPiccolo's insightful comment, but really everything he has said in this thread is spot on.

When you understand the nature of game, you can't unsee the patterns. The oligarchs are all vying for more power; money is just how they keep score. Enmiseration of the populace isn't even as profitable as a content, healthy, educated populace, but it's a "nice" shortcut to expanding the power of a few (read: enslaving the proles). We never banned slavery in the US; we merely shifted the cost of ownership to the slaves.