> Ask black and queer people how golden the 50's were. Or women. Or people outside of North America. Really, the main cause for the '50s seeming like a golden

> Ask black and queer people how golden the 50's were. Or women. Or people outside of North America. Really, the main cause for the '50s seeming like a golden age was that the U.S., protected by two oceans with its massive industrial capacity and population, emerged from WWII as accidental global hegemon. So it was easy to be optimistic when not only did America win the war, it was very prosperous and on its way to running the world. A decade after the Great Depression, American capital was helping to rebuild old Europe. All of the domestic cultural changes were just second order effects from this situation.