I see no purpose in having empathy at work when I've basically lost all agency to the tyranny of the failed-developer-turned-PM, the spiteful C-suite that sees you as a cost center, and the very obvious effort to not let professionals do their jobs.

Road goes both ways. If you don't respect me I don't respect you. It only seems that this problem exists in tech where nepo baby C/VP and PMs deem you unworthy of any kind of respect. Strange how I never had this problem when I worked construction.