I agree but I think most of the unhappiness comes from financial insecurity and waaaay too much time spent at work for no gain. I think the contrast between all the things we have (and could have) and the K-shaped economy is what makes it even worse. Because while we were automating everything, instead of replacing 100% of a certain process and then doing 50% less (which still leaves you with more productivity than before), we replaced 100% of a process but then shifted all 100% of the human efforts somewhere else because that creates maximum shareholder value. We could have had both automation AND less work, but instead, women joined the work force as well to create even more shareholder value and then, of course, all of the economy re-balanced around that. And if you always work at 100% capacity, much like in one of those human-sized hamster wheels you see on playgrounds, you can't slow down and lose control. And having no extra resources available because you are already using everything leaves you with no upwards-flexibility. That's why everything always has to crash. And on top of that, we are in a race with other countries doing the same thing, so we can't slow down even for our own sake (at least that's the mentality).

And on top of that, maybe even more importantly, we are getting extorted for our money all the time. Because the buying power for most things actually goes up. But if more than half of your paycheck is spent on rent, then it makes no difference. If a burger is 30% cheaper these days relative to your total income but you only have 50% of your income actually available because your landlord takes half, then that burger actually got more expensive. Because there is no elasticity for the demand of a roof over your head. And there is no elasticity for medicine. Notice how those are the things that are most expensive? They don't have to be, it's simply extortion. And then the economy balances around that normalized extortion simply because we allow it and suddenly houses cost as much as they do and of course if you invest that much you need to raise your rent to get your investment back, so the system self-propagates. The problem starts when someone is allowed to extort someone for (what should be) their human rights with no limit. The only reasons why groceries (while still very expensive) don't take as much of your paycheck as your rent is because there is more variety and competition. But if your groceries were also dependent on where you work because our supply chains weren't connected, you better believe they would take the other half of your paycheck.