Did people in the 1950s know how good they had it, and how degenerate and messed up this country would become afterward?

As our grandparents were hiding under their schools desks in duck and cover drills they probably never imagined that the Socialism they were so afraid of would someday become really popular with a big percentage of the nation. 

The 1950s were a pretty grim time to be alive. Polio, Korea, the cold war, industrial accidents and diseases, were the norm. Cars were designed to last two years or less. When kids went missing, no one looked for them. They were just runaways. Public restrooms were labeled  MEN, WOMEN, colored. If anyone thinks the 1950s were "good", they were too damned stupid to know what was going on around them.