The What, When & Why's

At what point in time did it become acceptable for a place of opportunity to demand from you more than humanly possible? I mean, the demands are beyond the reimbursement for the act. Who was that first person that said, ok I will accept your abuse and try my best to live off of "nothing" because I need a job. The fact is, there's no corporation without employees, so why do we accept this abuse? Can someone tell me why?