We were talking about how our grandparents and parents talk so much about missing the good old days when the economy was amazing; prices were cheap and wages were good. The novel “The Help” was part of the convo, for context.
My spouse said (paraphrased), “you ever think they realized the prices were all so cheap because of the exploitation of minority labor? Really they're saying they miss exploiting other peoples' labor for personal gain. Why else did the white middle class fall apart? All their help started demanding pay and real jobs.”