What makes you think these people are blackmailed into doing what they do?
These people are the "elites".
These people are from bloodlines spanning thousands of years.
You think the royal families of old just said, "Fuck it, let's all cede our power and influence to the masses out of the kindness of our hearts."?
No, they went underground with their evil bullshit during the industrial age because they know that the populations and technical know-how were about to skyrocket and they'd killed outnumbered and put to death for what they've been doing.