Yes, many of those things happen, for various reasons. Not one of those reasons is a cabal of cigar-smoking men in top hats twisting the mustaches and saying "Muahahaha, now I'll steal money from the poor!" like many people seem to think.
It’s way more mundane than that. They just rationally protect their self interests using the power they already have.
To claim that it’s not happening is not believable. Why wouldn’t they protect and expand their wealth and power at the expense of the serfs if nobody is stopping them?
