[tcbawo]

I don't buy the golden age of giving scenario either, but it seems there was an era where people had more time (single income households), more disposable income, less pressure to save for education, retirement, medical expenses, etc.

My parents tell a story about how in the 1950's, my grandfather built his house himself. One day after work, he came to the site and his neighbors were at work helping out on it. Of course, he was an immigrant living in a relatively homogeneous ethnic community. So, maybe small communities took care of their own, but in the post-drug, post-industrial economy small communities aren't diverse enough to handle the load.

[croon]

I think one aspect is income equality during the 1950s:

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/10/income-...

Especially these graphs:

https://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/business/median...

https://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/business/mean%2...

And during this time, the GDP growth rate was great:

https://www.thebalance.com/us-gdp-by-year-3305543

Of course the average worker would be less stressed, have more time for communal activity, as well as rotate A LOT more money back into the economy compared with money sitting still on top.