What lala land do you live in, again?
I could ask the same of you. I know it doesn't sit well with your populist sensibilities, but that's the way it is. You just need to look around you. Or maybe you need to get out of California.
I live in a land where you've never been. A land of an expanding, prosperous middle class. In a time when one man working could raise a family and pay a mortgage. Each year was better than the last. The purple USDA stamp on meat in the supermarket was an absolute guarantee of quality. The air was clean and the water was pure. A man's word and a handshake were a binding contract (Dad was a roofing contractor. He gave a bid, shook hands, and was paid at the end of the job. No BS, no written incomprehensible contracts. He cleaned up the worksite everyday before he left).
A land where you didn't have to think "Buy American", because everything you bought was American made, by Americans and for Americans. Big, heavy cars with V-8 engines and thick chrome made in Detroit with real Pittsburgh steel.
A land where you didn't have to keep your doors locked all the time for fear some psychopath would break in. Where neighbors knew and helped each other.
A land where loyalty to your employer was reciprocated; you could spend your entire career with one company if you wanted.
I could go on and on, but I'm sure these concepts are foreign to you
See, that's where you're wrong. All these things exist today. In abundance. At least they do here in Indiana.
I'm a working man. I can pay a mortgage and support a family. Don'y have a family yet, but I'm working on it. Going to get married in October. In Rome. Why Rome? Because I can. Could you have held your wedding in Rome back in your day?
Never had any problems with air or water or food. Buy from the local farmers market every summer. No USDA stamps, don't need 'em.
Never had a handshake deal go bad. We sign contracts, but we also tell each other what's in the contract first, making the contract a formality. Never had a verbal description mismatch the text, but if it did the culprit would lose of business.
I trust my neighbors. I trust my employer. I trust our customers. They all seem to trust me. Only psychopaths I've ever seen were on the news.
I could buy an American V8 muscle car if I wanted. Not my taste, though. I think my next auto is going to be a Miata, which is a strange combination of Japanese and British. Thankfully I have the choice.
This year is definitely better than last year, which was better still than the year before. I can't wait for next year.
If you look around and see a world that's falling apart, then perhaps you should move. Or perhaps you should clean up your neighborhood. Those things you think don't exist any more, do exist. In abundance. At least they do in Indiana.
You're in California, right? Maybe that's your problem. I've only spent a few weeks in California, but it was definitely a surreal Twighlight Zone kind of experience. I was glad to leave and get back to the real world.
Or maybe you're just a grouchy pessimist.