American workers are stuck in a prison, a prison that they’re kept in through the perpetual threat of homelessness. This isn’t truly a rhetorical point, it’s an empirically proven reality. Nearly two-thirds of the country’s workers are now living paycheck to paycheck, meaning this last year’s inflation has made them easier to coerce. That’s the directly stated goal of the capitalist ruling class at this stage. A Bank of America memo from last year
The collective West has grabbed an enraged tiger by its tail. Now, regardless of whether it tries to hang on or lets loose, it's going to be eaten.
Society is dysfunctional. Which is not the same as being at or near the point of collapse.
Those workers have been living paycheck to paycheck for several decades. And before WWII that was the ongoing state.
So it’s not new. They have been manipulated to accept it. And will continue to do so, based on all evidence we can see so far.