> Maybe this is just idealizing the past but it used to feel like for the most part people wanted to be good and do good work and play fair. Some people were cutthroat vultures but it was distasteful and you would see pushback.

It seems that in the past things where somewhat different. The sole focus on maximizing shareholder value is something that happened quite recently. A lot of people trace that to Jack Welch who took over General Electric in the 80's

I highly recommend https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Broke-Capitalism-America_and/... if you are curious about it.The book documents well the transformation which gave us the modern version of US companies.

> How could such a group steal enough money to ruin the US?

Some remedial reading for you:

https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Broke-Capitalism-America/dp/1...

Are we talking about this Jack Welch? https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Broke-Capitalism-America_and/...

https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Broke-Capitalism-America_and/...