Some of the strings being pulled are fear, hate, survival, comfort, sycophancy, subservience, greed, competition, polarization, feelings of superiority, and dominance. We are not only exploited through our labor, but also through our psyche and how our societies are structured.

ding ding ding! You hit the mark. You might enjoy The Age of Surveillance Capitalism if you haven't read it already.

The new surveillance capitalist market is about human emotions and attention, not goods or services. At a certain point money is useless, and everything becomes about influence