Nick Reding has a good take on this. So does George Packer. Reding observed that amphetamines are a uniquely American (and German - after all, the Nazis were big on speed) drug in that it aids your productivity, as opposed to hurting it, and the "Protestant work ethic" holds forth that salvation can be earned through effort. Packer, meanwhile, makes a good argument that much of the dissatisfaction prevalent in the modern United States is that we have a long-held expectation of social and economic mobility but current conditions have led to stratification unlike anything we've seen since Tom Joad.

"I would be succeeding if I weren't experiencing an undue level of hardship" is a good out from that trap, at least mentally. One has to be paying a lot more attention to their neighbors to understand that their level of hardship isn't nearly as unique as they think. But even if they do, it's not like they can really do anything about it, so it's easier to convince yourself that opportunity is yours as soon as you face your unique challenges.

I mean, Job was loved by God, even if he did fuck him over hard for decades. We are The Chosen Ones and if things aren't on the up'n'up, it's a temporary setback. Will Durant argued that the reason there haven't been any great Hindu empires is that the religion holds any suffering will be compensated the next time 'round the Karma wheel so there's no reason to strive for betterment. Pretty politically incorrect sentiment but hey - it was 1935 and he did go as far as saying that Gandhi was a new and unique force in 4,000 years of Indian history.