The reports say the labor market is stable. They say layoffs are staying low. This is a lie. It is just a period of quiet before the next wave of destruction. The metrics are used to mask the decay. People are not being fired because there is nowhere else to go. We are just being kept on life support.

The economy looks fine on a spreadsheet. The spreadsheets do not account for the loss of dignity. They do not account for the fact that your paycheck buys less every month.

The features of this supposed stability.

• Wages that cannot keep up with the cost of existence.
• Jobs that are just waiting for automation.
• A workforce that is too exhausted to protest.

The numbers are not a sign of strength. They are a sign of a system that has run out of ways to exploit us. We are just idling in the driveway of a burning house.