I think you’re very close to being right. The middle class was great for building up resources. It took skill and sweat to create new technology with tech being generational.
Now that we’re approaching a point of technological rapidity, America’s middle class is simply not needed to produce anymore. Basic resource creation can be done by cheap ignorant peasants while a small middle class can do the smart footwork and a select elite can sit atop the mountain and live a life of avarice.
Yep...it’s very unfortunate the way all this has played out...