World systems theory helps here. The class interests of imperial core workers (workers with property, investments, high wages and strong benefits, career paths that put them on track for management) are aligned with empire, and so the empire’s interests become their interests. The empire is interested in disciplining peripheral labor as the empire declines, and therefore so are core workers.

This is complicated by internal colonization, of course, so within the imperial core there are internal peripheries and among those workers you’ll find solidarity. Those are the “bums/single mothers/immigrants/xyz group” that other core workers hate. Their relationship with core workers is like the relationship between colonizers and colonized, which makes solidarity difficult.

I’m optimistic that this will decline with the empire as more and more core workers suddenly find themselves becoming part of the periphery. It’ll be ugly, with core workers losing their homes and retirement plans and inflation eating their wages. A lot of management positions will evaporate too, most of them are fake make-work jobs that only exist because of all the investment cash sloshing around in the economy. Some will turn to reaction and blame their internal periphery, but more will turn against empire.