The status quo isn't perfect, but I think you are severely exaggerating how bad things are. The fact that nearly all scientific publishing is done by people who are paid to do research (grad students, research scientists, professors, etc.) isn't evidence of gatekeeping. It just means that most people aren't able/willing to work for free.

It also isn't any sort of conspiracy that government grants are given out to people with a proven history of doing good research, as evaluated by their peers.