Maybe I misunderstand, but this feels misdirected. As someone who's employed by "greedy clowns" (web development agencies I guess?), I continuously observe that people pay for what saves them time. Our entire profession is built on this premise. If you have a person doing interesting things, does it really matter if they write their own HTML or pay someone else to write it?
The web is turning increasingly monolithic entirely thanks to the modern social network conglomerate. That has nothing to do with the choice of technology.
Am I wrong? I did click the link. I'm just assuming that the author of this post is not explicitly referring to two particular greedy clowns, but more generally to the WordPress ecosystem. Because it's actually very easy for normal people to avoid being locked into Automattic and WP Engine in particular.
Edit: just made the connection between the domain of this post and your username. So really just wondering what you meant specifically.
The web is turning increasingly monolithic entirely thanks to the modern social network conglomerate. That has nothing to do with the choice of technology.