I'm leaning towards the "bag of rats" theory, which I developed while involved in student politics.

I observed a tendency for a lot of the student union types to posit a "College" that was against them - in their minds there was a unified enemy  with a coherent plan to keep them down.

In fact, the various departments, academics and administrators were much more interested in fighting among themselves in order to maximise their own local and personal interests than in anything to do with bothering students.

I don't think there is a goal. There's a big mess and a lot of people, states and organisations trying to further their own agendas. Which, given the zeitgeist, is a recipe for horror.