I interpreted the parent as claiming that redistributing wealth would see the software industry's product offering driven by the "working class" rather than decided by the CEOs of corporations.

I don't disagree that it was better / less soul-sucking in the past, but I think that's because there was a lot less money in it, so participants in the software industry were in it because they were passionate. Unfortunately, corporatization is necessary to scale.

I'm sure you can find industries today which are largely driven by passionate people working in small outfits (but there's probably not much money in it).