1950 was nearly 20 years after the New Deal and nearly 10 years after the military-industrial complex ramped up. Tax rates for the wealthy were what, 3 times what they are now?
Yeah, real salad days for individual liberty.
I’ve never been one of the wealthy. All I know is we were free individuals with no government intrusions into the details of our personal lives in the 1950s and even beyond. Families could live well on one income. Welfare was minimal, based usually on dire circumstances like the death of a breadwinner and food assistance was commodities.
You appear to be a libertarian. Most libertarians have stated to me over the years that they would vote Democrat if there wasn’t a libertarian option.