I broadly agree that the economy works that way, but I’m somewhat doubtful that “running on desperation” is quite the right way to describe it. It seems a bit reductive.

Consider joining the military. Most Americans would never consider enlisting. There are people who consider possibly getting shot at or killed to be worth it. Maybe some of them were desperate when they joined, but often not.

Similarly, people who decide to immigrate to the US have a variety of motivations. Is hoping for a better life desperate? It depends.

Sometimes people regret their choices in life, which means they had choices and the other choice wasn’t obviously worse, in retrospect.

More generally, there are a lot of ways that people can get into situations that feel like a trap, and a bad job could be one of them.