> These proposals come from committees and groups of people, and it's just not realistic to write off the entire group of people behind these proposals as having some uniform set of beliefs like that, especially when they give other rationales for the proposals!

You don't have to write off entire groups of people - just the few at the top. They got there by sucking up to those who were already at the top. Everyone else just has to keep quiet if they want to keep their job. Worse, they're expected to express visible support for their "superiors" and their ideas if they want to keep their jobs.