This is a muddled message. Are we caught up chasing an illusion, or are we just more acutely aware of our poor condition?

It reads like it is saying the former, but then quotes statistics that reflect real loss of buying power. On the coasts 100k is no longer a large income. People really do live paycheck to paycheck while carefully managing their spending.

I’m inclined to at least partially acknowledge the gaslighting comment as plausible.