A lot of the good feelings in the boom times post WW2 were based on the idea that there was social mobility and opportunity. Pretty much the experience in America post Financial crisis in every industry except technology is that social mobility is dead, the middle class in this industry will be squeezed out of existence, and profit margins will grow by finding cheaper labor in another country.

A lot of Americans are in the labor class and don't own financial assets, what do they have to be cheery about?