Isn't that just the standard nix filesystem view abstraction leaking into the rest of the OS? Your file system could be any number of drives (or no drives at all) mounted at arbitrary points. Showing them like they are any relevant place to start for most users seems silly. Especially given that in a modern nix OS, almost everything in the top level of `/` is useless to users.
It definitely is intentional, and for good reason[1].
[1]: https://news.slashdot.org/story/21/09/27/2032200/students-do...
Also, macOS shows external drives on the Desktop and the Finder sidebar by default. The basis for your conspiracy theory is just plain false.
Are you talking about Mac or Windows?
Windows has those shortcuts which backtrack only to MyPC, and they’ve done that since forever. Always infuriated me as a Mac user since I am both user and Admin to get stuck in one of these loops, when I needed to get to root.
I always find it very fursting to get back to my user folder too without being stuck inside my documents or my downloads. End up adding a shortcut to the navigation panel for it.