You were robbed of your chance at the American dream so that another tax cut could go to the profits of international mega corporations and the rich elite.
There's no safety net to protect you from endless price gouging because politicians demonized regulations on everything from financial abuse to product safety to basic environment protections.
There's no one to ask for help because they've neutered the Gov agencies responsible through a perpetual lack of funding and regulatory capture.
There's no mainstream news coverage that speaks to the real life experience and feelings of you and your peers, because some of the richest people, companies, and financial organizations have pillaged the vast majority of journalism outlets into mouthpieces that talk around the true issues, if not outright misinforming on them.
There's nowhere to run and escape these endless greed machines because the entities behind them are not only determined to spread their doctrine to every corner of the Earth, but ultimately consume it in their narcissistic ecstasy. You can't even stick your head in the sand and ignore it, because messing up financially nowadays is literally a matter of life and death.
There's no working your way out of this capitalist hell hole, because wealth creation has shifted away from the innovators and workers who actually produce, and instead gone to the parasitic rentier class who create nothing. Even if you begin to outrun their rising prices and avoid new traps for them to bleed you? You can't “save for retirement” without either handing your money to Wall Street, or joining the rentier class yourself by becoming a landlord. Assuming there's a world left to retire in.
There's no way to adequately protest or work to change the problem without massively endangering your livelihood, freedom, and even physical wellbeing. Even for minor activism, most people are so constrained by time and money issues that it's hard to just keep aware of all the things that need protesting – let alone actually protest them. While society puts the onus on you to “get out and do something about it”, you know deep down that if you miss your rent, you'll join the MILLIONS of homeless people living as ignored and despised subcitizens.
There's no voting in a way that achieves much beyond slowing this descent into madness, because the system is so thoroughly corrupted and beholden to the very rich elite and major corporations that we need protection from. Decades of effort have produced nothing but worsening inequality – not just in the value of our finances, but in the very value of our vote. While every metric screams that the basic functions of our society are crumbling, these populists instead devote their political attention to rehashing fringe issues.
There's no leaning on a friend or relative, because most people's entire support system is tapped out both financially and emotionally. You don't want to be a burden on those around you who are already struggling. Sharing with your parents and elders can result in shame and a complete lack of understanding. Sharing with your friends seems like raining on their parade with stuff they already know all too well.
There's no future for us besides various flavors of wage slavery – ending with a pathetic death from avoidable causes – the cost of preventing summed up in a dollar figure nearly as cheap as the life we lived. All while society gaslights you at every turn: you're the problem, you're lazy, you need to do better, you're the one to blame, you expect too much, you don't deserve rest…
What do you think will trickle down first? Billionaire wealth or Billionaire blood? Or seeing the American Nightmare grow, will we just go gentle into that goodnight?
“…and in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.” – Steinbeck