1/2 (Never knew there was a character limit here).
I honestly think that the six biggest things that cause them to be what they are: unsatisfying lives, broken homes/no good male figure, infantilization, nihilism, having a sense of superiority/enlarged ego, and feeling that they'll always be safe.
This sounds simple enough, but I do think that most people confuse "Happiness" with "Satisfying". I think that most people seek to be happy which is a more fleeting and hedonistic pursuit (party culture/hookup culture, abusing drugs/alcohol to attempt to find fulfillment, materialism, etc.). Happiness is a feeling; satisfaction is a state of being. These are temporary solutions which don't address the need to better one's self, and instead address how one feels in the moment. Satisfaction comes from betterment, patience, perfection of skill(s), being of service to others/one's community and family, and from work in general. Our culture doesn't put much emphasis on building up and preserving what is, and rather promotes the idea that what we have is better being replaced because it's immediate and requires little to no work (as in creating, maintaining, and bettering something - be it being a doctor, or be it fixing up your home for your family) to acquire. We see this from everything from just tossing out a broken table because we can run over to IKEA, to tossing out your spouse because they want to start saving more money for your retirement while you want to get the newest iPhone and/or Xbox.
This is absolutely rampant, and extremely detrimental. I'm sure that if you think about it for a second, you, most people that you grew up with, and most people posting here probably have more friends whose parents are split up or the dad is not/barely around than you have friends whose parents who are still together. What's worse is that this is normalized and those who argue that single parents (usually mothers) can't typically do as much for their kid(s) than two healthy parents can, this is often shouted down as sexism and/or an attack on women. Both young girls and boys need a father figure in the picture. The former needs him so that she has someone to show her how men should treat her and how a real man should act and be worthy of respecting. Young boys need him for the same reason, but also to be shown how to act as a man and as someone to rebel against and release aggression with rather than doing so on the rest of society. Without this strong male figure, kids now are raised almost completely in a feminine world. How can a young boy possibly find himself when he's trying to become a man in that world? How does he stand up for himself when adversity comes along? How do young girls become women who know how to tell when a man is wrong for them or just plain bad? They don't. They capitulate. They demand that the state to do it for them. They gladly hand over their agency and claim that they have the right to have adversity never come. Then when the state gives them a little, they then feel attached and lash out at those who object when the state inevitable abuses their newfound power.
The two points above cover a lot of this, so this should be brief. Not only do you have people who don't have the male figure, who then latch onto the state as a protector/provider, you then mix that with the "happiness" seeking attitude and culture. People haven't been encouraged to become someone; they're being encouraged to accept what they are and to never evolve. These people like to be coddled because it makes them feel as if they're justified in being what they are, justified in why they're not doing more, and comfortable in being what they are because they're told "It's rigged. Give up. I'll fight for you so that you can stay where you are." Then when those people who "fight" for them never change their station in life, they feel like toddlers and accept that they're not capable.
