Choosing to get a degree that nobody wants is the problem.

No, you were closer earlier in the post, "where you're located" is the problem, and even then, most of the jobs you --can-- get don't come close to the cost of living premium unless your family decided to own and hold land there decades ago.

The core problem is more fundamental, though. Mergers and acquistions activity combined with good old buisness failure and a dearth of new companies mean there are far fewer employers than there used to be. Businesses are careful not to get nicked by anti-trust law here, because it only looks at impact on consumers, and not impact on workers. If there's only three employers for your skill - say, Disney, Fox, and Comcast - then Disney buys fox, guess what happens to your ability to move or to find a better job? It's been a long, slow decline.