In a representative democracy, politicians get elected by pandering to the masses. The masses, however, are told what to believe by large corporations that also pay for political favors. Thus change becomes almost impossible whenever it threatens the status quo because the dominant actors (the corporations & the paid-for politicians) have every reason to oppose disruption. Meanwhile ordinary people are mollified with gadgets and Netflix and lack any ability to (a) imagine a more adequate approach to life, and (b) organize sufficiently to accomplish change over the long term. It's easy to be enthusiastic for a few minutes; it's nearly impossible to retain that enthusiasm for decades. But corporations retain their goals for decades and malleable politicians are always easy to buy.