"Universal" is a massive stretch. What seems more certain is that the many countries where your take is widely shared are less successful than the few countries where it is not.

History would have some objections to what you believe. In defense of your position, however, the last 40 years (at least in the US) have been dominated by the ethos you describe, and the eras and the politicians who were not consumed by greed tend to be less common than the reverse.

Social media enables unseen before levels of fear mongering, misinformation and astroturfing. There are so many “issues” that were created and inflated to rile up voters it’s insane.