This is my take as well. A related problem is the idea of control. If you feel you have no control over a situation, then action feels meaningless.
The book "Lab Rats" explains this phenomenon very well. In fact, apparently, the way you make a rat depressed in a lab study is to constantly change small aspects of its environment, preventing it from ever feeling stable and comfortable. I wonder if the upheaval in modern social life resulting from things like the rapid changes brought on by capitalism and information technology are a contributor to this widespread feeling.