I think we're at a point where CEOs actually do believe thse things, because the whole thing has been going on for long enough where people who are dumb enough to actually believe what the shareholders want have gotten to the top. They've gotten there via taking in what the shareholders want and actually believing it, it's clear they're dumb enough for that.

The more time that I've spent talking to c-level suite occupants, the more that I've realized that they're the grown up version of that kid in high school who attended the same Cutco Knives presentation as you, and then immediately signed up because their parents were paying for the knives so that they'd "have a job."

This is how those morons think that they started at the bottom. They sat in the same presentation as the rest of us poors, but were rich enough to afford the scam. By the time they've inherited the same cash cow that their parents live off of, they've finished convincing themselves that they earned the reigns because of the years they spent looking busy while actually financially fucking over their parents by making them throw money at scam after scam.