It was always like this. Look at the history, and sometimes quite recent - people were always treated like a tool - for getting rich, for getting in power, to conquer other countries, to serve them.
It's interesting though how the narrative is all bright-eyed idealism, make the world a better place, progress, etc until at some point the masks go off and suddenly it's "always has been, move along, nothing to see here"...
It was always like this. Look at the history, and sometimes quite recent - people were always treated like a tool - for getting rich, for getting in power, to conquer other countries, to serve them.