Given the state of nature that exists between large industrialized nations, each in incentivized to foment dysfunction in their rivals to slow them down economically. The more infighting in any given country, the more headaches present among citizens, the slower and more reluctant their economy becomes.
There's a slow, glacial, permanent grind that never goes away, because the world at large is trying to make you call in sick to work, so that they can gain some breathing room, and pump up their own economy.
Meanwhile, uncompetitive personality flaws get classified as mental illness, so that there's medical justification to ply you with productivity drugs. Take prescribed speed to perform for the economy. Take mood stabilizers so you don't snap at your co-workers. Take anti-anxiety meds for your impostor syndrome, and stop worrying about whether everyone hates you. They're all just cranky from the speed and psychological operations of global superpowers trying to slow us down.