[mikestew]

"And what happened next, Grandpa? Did such oppressive tax rates stem economic growth?"

"My boy, not at all! What followed was one of the most prosperous times in the country!"

I'm not saying correlation, causation, blah, blah, blah. But such rates not only didn't "destroy a generation", it's a time many look back to fondly (in which case they're probably white and male).