The US learned a long time ago that in order to keep their greatest disposable resource at bay (the working class), they have to give the illusion of choice and just enough freedom to continue having children and quell civil unrest. If you completely subjugate and alienate your greatest resource, your empire isn’t going to last long at all.

When you find the sides of the bubble and start prodding, that’s when you start to see the true face of the ones controlling it. That’s when the cops come out in force; the layoffs happen; the union busters and scabs double; products and goods sink in quality while growing in price. Marx predicted this and now we get to watch the edges of the empire and capitalism sharpen in real time.