I get wrapped up so much in how cognitive bias affects politics that I forget it affects EVERYTHING you do.

"The Cave" is a form of cognitive bias:

They won't - or can't - see that other people have broken out of the cycle.

While some people can calculate self-employment on a risk/reward basis, and THEN decide to remain at a "safe" job, most people don't even bother to make the analysis; "the cave" keeps them "safe".

up to this point, this approach has worked for the majority of Americans, at least...up to now