Well, one quite reasonably assumes that if gasoline goes to $50 per gallon, the economy's in some trouble.
And when the economy's in some trouble, everybody tightens belts, looking out for themselves and their own.
If gasoline goes to $50 per gallon, the primitives would have to work for a living, because straitened people--taxpayers--couldn't afford to support them.
If I were a primitive, and smart--I know, I know, two contradictions--I'd hope the economy continues to boom, so that other people could afford to maintain and support me.