The internet itself is often cited as the cause. "Social Medial"

Income inequality is probably more likely, with internet making it easier to see.

In the US, while economy is "good", it ignores a large % of population struggling, and if they are on Social Media, they see the differences.

Then popular uprising, and boom, revolution, dictatorship.

The people that are suffering, don't have the bandwidth to think about "not ideal" versus "terrible".

Ironically, the internet and the free access to information that comes with it have essentially removed the veil.

I think it's a class thing. I've told juniors that at a certain point in the social ladder, people start using language funny. Someone saying something is "not ideal" tends to translate to "it's terrible", but specifically when used by management/political types it picks up the real consequent of: "but I'll subject my people to it if that's what it takes, and no one can come up with anything better".

I've increasingly found that the more life manages to centralize around just a few people being in those types of positions, the worse it gets.