Is anyone really surprised by this? Really, anyone?

[Curmudgeoness]

65. Maybe I am stuck with visions of Sinclair's The Jungle.

Or the stories from my youth from my parents and grandparents about the way it used to be in the early 20th Century. Just like today, there were people who could afford the consumer goods, but too many people were left out. The people who were left out were the ones who were used like they were horses instead of human beings. They were not able to have any luxuries. And most of the working class were left out.

The consumer goods that you mention came after the time I was talking about, a time when unions had been established and conditions were better because the workers forced it on the capitalists. Things improved greatly for workers after WWII. Sure, capitalism did good for the masses by developing things we need to make life better for us. But regulated capitalism gave us the ability to afford these things.