A long time ago someone wrote, "they have nothing to lose but their chains" and predicted massive social upheaval as a result. That person felt this was an inevitable consequence of capitalism and its tendency to concentrate wealth. I suspect they were imagining people like in your example, only worse off.

Maybe redirecting that anger against another segment of society is a way to avoid social upheaval while maintaining the status quo? That anger does seem prone to being co-opted, though.