[wisty]

The theory is based on historical data, and I doubt that an end to middle class blue-collar work would apply to all that many historical cases.

But you might be onto something - elite overproduction could be a concession made by an elite that's facing a potential uprising - whether it's youth unemployment or a weak king or new technology arming the peasants then allowing the most ambitious potential revolutionaries a chance to advance into the elite is probably a good stalling tactic (but will eventually fail).

It's like if a company starts making everyone a "manager". Maybe the leadership is incompetent, and they are more focused on management than work. Maybe they are trying to raise morale by handing out pseudo-promotions. Maybe they can't attract new workers without giving them attractive job descriptions. Whatever the case, it's unlikely to be sustainable (either the management will collapse under its own weight, or the workers will realise their new titles aren't worth what they thought they were).