Capitalism. Because: - Economic insecurity makes future uncertain. This immediately introduces a level of anxiety to people. Not only in Silicon Valley - its e

Capitalism. Because: - Economic insecurity makes future uncertain. This immediately introduces a level of anxiety to people. Not only in Silicon Valley - its everywhere. There is no social mechanism left to use as a safety net to protect people because everything is privatized now. Its pay or die. - Needing to work for survival. Because you can't be sure of even the next year, with rising prices, expensive services weighing on the budget, it feels like you are always in a fight for your survival even if you are a 6 figure paid person. Survival of you and your dependents. - These add up: The society is in the same state, everyone is in a survival mode and stressed, with anxiety. The atmosphere is the same everywhere and its inescapable. Which exacerbates your own anxiety and induces it even if you didn't have anxiety to start with. - Things are going downhill. Profits and stock market are rising, but everything else is descending down into a hellhole. Societal collapse is visible. We humans are social creatures, we know that our survival is tied to the society because we evolved to be like that since it ensured our survival and success as a species. So when your society is going downhill, you get extra anxiety.