There is definitely a small set of powerful, rich, and influential people who “benefit”, but I don’t think it’s a pyramid of nefarious overlords so much as it is just a large web of people acting on their own interests.
The same could be said for people with crab mentality. They are acting on their impulses, values, and opinions, born from likely unfortunate circumstances, when they drag their immediate others down. They aren’t thinking about holding society back at large.
Plus, quite often things are the way they are because of historical inertia. It’s why historians place make such a big deal about continuity. For example, many laws we have can be traced back to some series of awful events that happened to a set of people. But those awful events were probably caused by yet another set of awful circumstances.
If you’re looking for some group of people to blame for all of your woes, you might just become a fascist.