I've been trying to articulate the mindset of those who, on some fundamental level, consider all their employees an impediment to their own personal success.
One of the most depressing things in this, and other labor related reddits is that, invariably, many people in the comments will make the assumption that, though cruel and malicious, ultimately the reason why employers will be so hostile to their own workers is that it is an optimal strategy for success.
There's an odd sort of comfort in the notion that you've been bested by a preverbal 'Lex Luthor' type. Being outdone by someone smarter and more ruthless is almost comforting.
Unfortunately, we aren't being oppressed by super geniuses, but by old fashion bullies.
They don't win by having the best strategies, but by relentlessness. They have no masterplan, they simply react and react and react, never satisfied with what they have. They make every fight, no matter how small the gain, monumental, so that by the time you get people to agree on an issue, everyone is exhausted.
It's depressing to lose to someone who is your moral, mental, and emotional inferior, they have no shame in doing anything to win.
As such, they treat their labor force like an enemy to be overcome, because to them, everything that does not explicitly exist in this world to give them something (without wanting anything back in return), is an enemy.
Unfortunately, there is this constant attempt by those in labor to make rational arguments as, it's incomprehensible to most that the person with the most power in the room, is the one lease equipped to handle it. Sadly, this will never work. There is no argument, no logic usable to reach these individuals. Only leverage.
To some extent though, if only by animalistic impulse, these bullies understand this. Thus they work to spread so much misery and desperation, so as to always keep their enemy (labor) on its toes. If you think about it, when they say 'you don't look busy' what they mean is 'you don't look stressed enough'.
Literally, if your happy, they're unhappy.
I'm still trying to form this argument, but I felt this early form of it was worth stating for others to consider.