imho, it was Nixon who started America on this course. Nixon knew that the Vietnam War was unwinnable; he even ran in 1968 as a ‘peace candidate.’ He also knew that massive bombing would mean that the US steel mills would be working 24/7 and that would be great for the Unions and owners. All he had to do was pay for it with paper money, because he didn’t want to raise taxes.
Tom Wolfe said that if a person goes from middle class to homeless in a shelter their life changes 50%. They still have the same clothes, watch the same TV shows, eat the same kind of food.
If someone goes from being a billionaire to middle class their life has changed 100%.