I wouldn't give you any flak over that. But that situation only lasted as long as it took for the whole system to break down in a three-sided "crony capitalism" game that ultimately caused the destruction of this same middle class. This is exactly how it played out in the auto industry:
1. Politicians get votes from union workers and financial backing from auto manufacturers.
2. In exchange, the politicians award enormous contracts to these industrial giants for all kinds of crap at the expense of the taxpayers.
3. Auto manufacturers turn out products with declining quality over time, but nobody cares about it because they are only competing with other crappy auto manufacturers.
This type of scenario was never going to last very long. I'd suggest that it only lasted as long as it did because the U.S. had no industrial competitors for several decades after World War II.
Just before the 08 crash, I was getting some tires. A guy was there, too, getting some. He wanted his spinners used. He was in his 50s and bragged about working a GM job with overtime and how he got a new car every three years. But he loved his spinners.
More than half of all autos are made by non union workers.