We now know that the post WW2 period and the twenty five years that followed were an aberration—prosperity based on one income and strong family values by women.
The combination of gigantic multinational corporations (who loved cheap labor) and the “progressives” social policy that dominated the mass media, education, non-profits were a toxic mix.
...plus no import tariffs. That and accepting the status quo of the world’s mercantilism. The US consumer market is wide open (still!) when it should be protected along with US industry and workers. I know I know I am a Patriot and not your typical Free Traitor™. Instead of bending over we should have resisted. We’d have an industrial base right now.