I think this is either because they believe all companies are like this, or they can't get hired elsewhere.
> If you feel that way, consider joining an early stage startup
This isn't the only option. There are plenty of teams to join tucked away in corners of big companies that have all kinds of different approaches. Or, another option is to just become a manager at a big company, and then you can lead your team towards whatever system you want. You don't have to work at a startup and live in poverty.
In my anecdotal experience, the "Agile regimes" most commonly take root at non-tech-industry companies pretending to be tech companies. A lot of those places treat software engineering like it's factory work.
One tell-tale sign of a horrible place to work is the "scrum masters." That could be another metric to guide the job search, too — if you see a scrum master, just say no.