I don’t know - if you cannot get bread without standing in line, you have gone over the precipice IMO. I don’t think the plan involves mass death from starvation. Think of the civil unrest. I think the purpose is to see the abyss, but not be in the abyss. It needs to halt before going over but we need to climb to the top for a good view.

From Merriam Webster ... "Disaster" (Ill Star)

"Did you know? Disaster has its roots in the belief that the positions of stars influence the fate of humans, often in destructive ways; its original meaning in English was "an unfavorable aspect of a planet or star." The word comes to us through Middle French and the Old Italian word disastro, from the Latin prefix dis- and Latin astro, meaning "star." Another unfortunate word that comes to us from astrological beliefs is "ill-starred." Now generally used in the sense of "unlucky" or "having or destined to a hapless fate," "ill-starred" was originally used literally to describe someone born under or guided by an evil star. We also have star-crossed, meaning "not favored by the stars" or "ill-fated."

Micro-Nova. NCSWIC