I refer to a book by Jeff Booth called Price of Tomorrow. His thesis is based on the idea that the world is actually deflationary, and technology makes this exponential. We can actually see this in every day life. We always choose to pay less stuff, so any company that can produce it more efficiently should get the bulk of the business since they provide the most value.
This about a farmer who could only feed his family, but once he got a tractor, he could grow enough crops to feed the village. All that extra production can now be sold for cheaper and cheaper prices. Jeff argues that the price of everything falls to the cost of production, and production keeps getting cheaper. But we of course don't see this, and its because governments steal all of this productivity. They tax and regulate everything to death.
Prices should be going down, and if your wage also drops, it just has to outpace the drop in prices. In history, there were actually deflationary periods and during these times, people were thriving.
For this to work, you also need a deflationary currency, not inflationary. So yes, a deflationary collapse when everyone has debt will be catastrophic. But if you ask me, the collapse is already written in stone, its just a matter of when and how.