America's National Mood Was OK in 1988-1991

Materially, Americans are far better off than they were during the Cold War. But even thinkers who acknowledge this truism often fondly reminisce about the long-lost Golden Age of American optimism that supposedly spanned the second half of the 20th century. This reminiscing always puzzles me, because I vividly remember the second half of the second half of the 20th century. Except for a brief…