Political violence and extreme polarization are symptoms of deeper economic anxieties. When people feel economically insecure, they retreat into tribal identities and become susceptible to narratives of anger, which can escalate into violence.

Widespread anxiety is primarily a symptom of economic precarity, not individual failings. The most effective national 'therapy' is not more counselors, but systemic solutions like a higher minimum wage, affordable housing, and universal childcare that reduce root financial stress.

The narrative that personal problems require therapy pathologizes what are often systemic economic issues. You cannot "therapy your way out of material precarity." Structural solutions like higher wages, affordable housing, and a stronger social safety net are often more effective mental health policies than individual introspection.

The inability for young people to afford assets like housing creates massive inequality and fear. This economic desperation makes them susceptible to populist leaders who redirect their anger towards political opponents, ultimately sparking violence.

The cultural fixation on therapy as a panacea turns a useful tool into a 'comfort industry' that obscures the root cause of much modern anxiety: economic instability. The most effective mental health intervention for many would not be individual counseling, but rather massive structural changes that provide affordable housing and stable jobs.

America's mental health crisis is largely driven by economic precarity. Systemic solutions like a higher minimum wage, affordable housing, and universal healthcare would be more effective at improving population well-being than an individualistic focus on therapy, which often treats symptoms rather than the root cause of financial stress.

Anger directed at a group, like the wealthy, leads to ineffective violence. Lasting change, as seen after the Gilded Age, comes from identifying and fixing the specific, underlying economic mechanism that is broken—be it monopolies, labor laws, or an unbalanced budget. The target should be the system, not the players.

Much of the anxiety and stress plaguing Americans, especially young men, is rooted in economic precarity, not a lack of therapy. Therefore, the most impactful solutions are economic policies. A higher minimum wage, affordable housing, and universal childcare would do more to improve the nation's mental health than any amount of traditional counseling.

Figures like Donald Trump don't create populist movements; they rise by capitalizing on pre-existing societal problems like economic despair. Focusing on removing the leader ignores the root causes that allowed them to gain power, ensuring another similar figure will eventually emerge.