Hard disagree, most of my coworkers make well north of $1M and office politics is at an all time high.

I believe office politics happens when there are simply too many people at a company or org.

Office politics happen when the number of people at an office exceeds 2

I think too many people happens because a company would rather hire 10 "market rate" people than 3 well-compensated ones. Headcount inflation dilutes responsibility and rewards, so even if one of the "market rate" guys does the best work possible they won't get rewarded proportionally... so if hard work isn't going to get them adequate comp, maybe politics will.

I believe incompetence is the key. When someone cannot compete (or the office does not use yardstick that can be measurable) politics is the only way to get you up.

Switch to what Nobel prize to man instead of the woman who do the work … sometimes. Take the credit and get the promotion.