I forgot the point that motivated my response-  

I remember, well, the era that you're so nostalgic about. It had it's good points and America, the sole remaining industrial power after the war did very well.

There were really bad elements too: polio epidemic; Asian flu epidemic; segregation, often violent with a resaurgence of the KKK and others; McCarthyism, which you cite on occasion; the Cold War was heating up and proxy wars were global; a couple recessions; youth gangs.