I feel like the Simpsons also conveyed the desperation the working class is feeing today, though, in the good seasons that is. It’s just intensified as time has time has gone on. They are constantly skrimping and saving. When homer’s company stock increases, Marge is excited that they will finally have a savings account (though Homer goofs and cashes it out when it’s $20 and buy’s an expensive beer). When their dog needs an emergency surgery, they have to cut things out of their life and modify their standard of living for a little while because of their lack of money. In the first episode, when they have to pay for an impromptu tattoo removal for Bart that consumes their Xmas present money, and Homer doesn’t get a holiday bonus, they are unable to purchase any Christmas gifts and Homer is forced to shop at the 66 cent and below store.

I guess what the tweet is getting at is still true, that the Simpsons embodied a typical suburban existence that is becoming less and less possible. But even in that embodiment, the Simpsons were barely hanging on to middle class status in the show, and little bumps along the way threatened to throw them off of it at any moment.

Edit: or maybe they weren’t saying that things weren’t hard for the Simpsons, but rather that their standard of living is now impossible for someone of Homer and Marge’s background