This...

[w0nderer]

1. K&R

Well part of it is forgetfulness, people don't want to remember or believe about 'bad days'

There was another bad time (percentage of wealth in less hands?) called The Great depression.

During this Great Depression and after it, measures were put in place to lessen the chances of it happening again or at least as harshly. As time passed and people got it better and better, these measures which cost taxes, became a pundit point for politicians.

It's too expensive!
People are freeloading!
We don't need this, we all have it good!
Unions aren't good, they stop our cheap labor which makes products more expensive!

The people, not all of whom remembered The Great Depression, looked to themselves and started voting their personal interest(less taxes) instead of community interest, and then after the communities largely went down they started voting their employers best interest instead of their own because their employer paid pr companies to convince people this was the good idea to do.

and Thus it happened a new Depression came, and every one ran like headless chickens and asked, how did this happen?

(the storybook format was cuter for such a sad topic)