You read my mind. It does not seem to take much to be satisfied these days. The bar of “new normal” is really very low.
No street riots
Gasoline in stations
This is freedom? This is prosperity.
We don’t have a barter economy? Maybe not fully but a lot of it is already going on just to survive the high taxes.
The Soviets eventually did not have street riots and had gasoline in the stations. They were not in ruin?
OK, believe what you want. As for me, I’ve lived the last 60 years and by comparison to about half of that time we look like ruin is inevitable to me even by your definition.
I’m aware bartering is ongoing. However, it is not like Germany in the early 1920’s.
This is what being programmed to accept third-world living standards is like.
People aren’t starving and dying in the streets... yet.
So what happens when the currency debasement/debt accumulation jig is up?