Ah, you seem to forget in 50/60, govt was small enough that one adult in the home could bring in enough for: 2 kids, a home, a car, TV, vacations, college....
Yet, I see NO authority for the ‘minimum wage’ to begin. In fact, I seem to recall something about interference in contracts (aka employment)....I’ll have to dig to pull it back up /s
And what's with those child labor laws, too? Any kid who has a parent that wants to contract the kid out to work somewhere or to sell the kids organs should be free to do so as long as they get a lawyer involved to make sure the contract is valid. Not to even mention the safety laws that were passed before there was even an OSHA.
I hear ya', the government should stay completely out of contracts. It's about time the Chinese are allowed to contract with Berkshire Hathaway to import opium, too. Just like the good old days when the Brits were advocates of the "invisible hand" fisting everyone except the nobility.