More than just the elites. The extreme division between all Americans from any group - political, racial, religious etc. - is all part of a large, ongoing cyberwarfare attack from Russia:
I'm sure other nations are involved, Russia has just done the most recorded damage so far. The entire point of red vs blue, black vs white, rich vs poor rhetoric is to divide and conquer the American people.
I had a similar experience with gaming, but with Civilization V, Dwarf Fortress, and other RTS games. They felt enough like I was "working" that I didn't care/notice how much time I was wasting each day. Now I've moved on to the same work-then-play mentality you described, but even then I try to replace gaming with reading or creative projects.
Watching my own sense of purpose change as I've gotten older has been interesting. I used to have a carefree (and careless), go with the flow personality. In the last two years I've become achievement and goal-oriented. I think it feels much better to have a reason to get up each day.
In grade school, my undiagnosed ADHD wreaked havoc on my education. I had a hard time following instructions (and I was always losing important paperwork...) Now I see it as an advantage because I learn independently without the authoritarian structure of school. I'm able to hyperfocus and gather information quickly, and I know when to switch from one topic to the next in order to keep myself engaged.
When I finally got treatment for ADHD I was told I developed Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder from always trying to "keep up" with non-ADHD expectations in life. I hold myself to high standards, but sometimes I'm a nightmare to be around because not everyone feels the same way. Anyone else with ADHD have similar experiences or thoughts?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Research_Agency
I'm sure other nations are involved, Russia has just done the most recorded damage so far. The entire point of red vs blue, black vs white, rich vs poor rhetoric is to divide and conquer the American people.