> "Am I the only one who thinks that calling other people NPCs is basically the same thing as saying that they are not human?"

Yes, it's often used to dehumanize people. Sometimes it's just meant as a joke, but sometimes it's not.

I think calling people NPCs started because there are a lot of people working in dead end jobs that gave up their dreams a long time ago and aren't really thinking about how to really live they're just trying to get by day to day.

I think it's better to raise awareness of people who are NPCs than to try to ignore it and pretend everyone in America's living the great life.