Science gets done by the people you hire with the money you raise. And yes, everyone in a group is always thinking about the next grant.

I’m not joking. I’m not exaggerating. This is the job, and it’s always been this way (at least in my lifetime). Maybe it’s worse because of the current administration, but complaining that academic life is mostly about grant writing is like a fish complaining about water.

Undoubtedly the complaints are constant, but that is not evidence that the amount of work wasted on unsuccessful grant proposals is constant.