As a saying fairly runs,
'Every action relies on inaction
Which envelops all actions.'
Due to inaction --
Embodiment of precision
Of all activities --
The modern leaders of the world
Are the masters and holders
Of all honour and prestige.
Inaction serves them
As the treasury of all designs;
It fits them for the burden
Of all commitments and
Makes them be the lords
Of all experiences and social reforms.
The range of their activities
Is mostly inexhaustible, but
There is no any trace
Of their presence to be seen.
If you look at those who have
What they call their own,
They are the superior men but
Of the former times only.
If you look at those who have
Simply nothing of the kind,
But they're actually the hosts
Of the forthcoming world.
The problem with inaction is that it doesn't do very much. The problem with action is that perhaps it does too much. Each can lead to the other; and to no avail which is what I think you are hinting at in this poem.
A detailed study of the origins of the New Alienation. The author labels it normative or postmodern ennui and traces its rise to cultural power over the last two centuries.