I think there is a certain hierarchical dynamic at work, a clique, so to speak. As Larry Summers apparently said to Elizabeth Warren; “If you want to be an insider, you can’t question the other insiders.”

As the system ages though, it goes from those with a vision of where to go, to those simply better at climbing the greasy pole of power, than any idea of what to do when they get there. So it becomes more and more a process of patching the problems that arise, rather than examining and addressing the root causes of those problems. Especially as it might involve addressing the more parasitic functions living off the system. The insiders themselves.

Meanwhile the rest of society finds ways to adapt to living within the system, such as it is, as questioning it doesn’t seem individually viable. Which further re-enforces the status quo.

Eventually though, it does break down and either a new vision arises, or it muddles along as a deteriorating interplay of the various fiefdoms.