Depending on your background and circumstances, there are ways to opt out of the race to a greater/lesser degree. Moving to a cheaper city in your country, or a cheaper country altogether, is one of them. Finding a less stressful way of making less money is another.
It's just hard being reminded that there's no escape hatch - we've welded them all shut for eternity. Being reduced to choices within a system but the choice horizon never extends to the system itself and won't within my lifetime makes me feel trapped.