While I agree that we should have a good social safety net, these cycles should in no way shape or form be normal. Something is obviously fundamentally broken.
Waxing and waning of economies is something that happened since civilization started. No one has fixed it yet, and people a lot smarter than you and I have tried. If the human race was more altruistic than greedy, it would probably be possible, but we aren't. Until that changes, this is just what happens.
What are you talking about? This cycle is well-known and follows a roughly 7 year pattern and has done so since the start of the industrial era 200 years ago. Even prior to that there were economic cycles in the years 1000-1700. Whether these cycles should leave ordinary people in financial ruin is a completely different matter.