Long supply chain do NOT necessarily require hierarchy. (They may not be *ideal* for absolutely everything, eg. we in the UK maybe can do without asparagus from Peru in September, but that's a different issue)
As for the rest of your post - my experience was much less, uh, pointedly close to home (for want of a *much* better phrase), but the sense of "well, you'll just have to learn to live without X*, which might suck for you, but will be better for society at large" is eerily similar.
*X being certain tech that makes my life more liveable/dignified, especially with my arthritis/long covid, albeit I *can* function without it.
Fuck that noise.