I was speaking more generally. There are always a minority of active people, but I think that minority is getting more narrow also.

is that governments very deliberately go out of their way to make things as difficult as possible to pretty much guarantee that most of the population will make the absolute most stupidest decisions

I have a similar conspiracy, that the governments are the ones spreading the conspiracies and that when they prove true, they are doing that too to say later, "we told you" - I once wrote an article about it :D

Pretty much, and also why some "kids these days" have zero work ethic.

There definitely isn't much grind culture - unless it is coffee grind.

though the expenses and obstacles constantly in the way can make it seem impossible sometimes.

It is another artificial hurdle set up so only a few can ever succeed.