There is a supportable argument to be made that the Depression/WWII generation pushed for many of the policies which, temporarily, drastically improved life for

There is a supportable argument to be made that the Depression/WWII generation pushed for many of the policies which, temporarily, drastically improved life for the average American and effectively created the much-lauded "American middle class". And a supportable argument to be made that their children promptly froze, rolled back or outright repealed those policies and gains upon reaching an age when they wielded significant political power. Without arguing about terms like "selfishness", the motivation can be laid on the economic conditions those generations faced. Depression-era Americans grew up in a time of great economic hardship, and so pushed for legal and social safety nets (Social Security, labor unions, etc.). Their children grew up in a time of economic ease, and so had no understanding of or motivation to preserve those things, and saw them as impediments to their further enrichment (if we get rid of the union, my business is more profitable; if we slash entitlement programs, my taxes are lower, etc.). A good parallel is the anti-vaccine movement in the US. The threat of serious vaccine-preventable diseases is fading from living memory, as most parents of young children today have never lived in a situation where such diseases were a realistic consideration. Thus they see no benefit from vaccines, and over-value the rare side effects (and believe, out of fear, charlatans who fabricate claims that vaccines cause problems those parents are familiar with).