I’ve been watching lots of movies from the 40s and 50s recently. They all bring back memories of a far better country as well as bring a tear to the eye for what has been lost.
Women were banned from gyms in the 40’s and 50’s along with one out of five Americans going hungry and a litany of other things not present in Hollywood movies.
I get the confusion though-who doesn’t want for the 90% nominal tax rates?
fwiw the single biggest difference is no top down education system producing conformist idiots that can’t think their way out of a paper bag. Real diversity in education existed, producing a significantly greater range of solutions to any problem.
Now doctors, lawyers etc...mostly taught the same using the same texts largely making wealth banal in this country while at the same time creating immense uniformity and conformity.
Wealth at one time meant significantly better medical care, legal representation, or in the 40’s and 50’s a car.
We traded unique and valuable diversity of thought for enabling the nation to largely live like royalty.
Similar to the grass is always greener crowd. The days of a superior yesterday that never existed don’t really deserve the living like royalty.
It was better days. There were a lot fewer of us by at least half and most of us were of the same culture. Our parents had survived the war and understood order and discipline for the most part. Those things are mostly gone now. A house divided against itself cannot stand.