…I don’t understand your comment, I think. Is pointing out historical facts ad hominem? My (small) point was that I’m not certain that the sudden prosperity that some workers in the US enjoyed was entirely sustainable. That said, the development since the seventies or so has definitely gone hard in the other direction. I’m not competent to comment on the causes, but successful deunionization, destruction of the educational system, and overseas outsourcing of everything productive are probably in there somewhere.