People say this but the rot goes back to the founding of the US constitution. The founding fathers absolutely hated democracy and the idea of the bill of rights (see the elites that wrote the constitution voted down the idea immediately when raised, it wasn't until multiple states threaten to not ratify was it included (yes if saying elites wrote the constitution is an attack, please tell me how the local baker in New York could have left his job unpaid for 4 months to go to Philadelphia to help advocate for what they believe in?)).

Every single right we have is the result of constant struggle by the people dragging society forward at the defiance of the elites.

I mean look at something like Shay's Rebellion and read what the elites thought of it as the time, people were fighting back against actual tyranny and they were scared of the peasant revolt hurting their profits they had to rewrite a constitution that removed emancipation from over half the population while keeping all the actual control (creating the Presidency, courts, and senate while only giving the people one single house) for themselves.

I'm honestly amazed we have as many rights as we do now. It's a testament to humanity's innate desire toward freedom and this freedom has always expanded beyond what society claims to be capable of.