Gilded age of United States, the 1865-to-1901 era, was not a true golden age. The whole-country get richer because of the conquest of the West, the Texas-oil-fields and the Klondike mines. But…
But half of the people were excluded from the wealth, because the Civil war had destroyed their land. It’s also the age of the robber barons (in old german: Raubritter). Peoples like Andrew Carnegie (steel) Cornelius Vanderbilt (railways) John D. Rockefeller (oil) and many others who steal every body with theirs monopolies.
This time is coming back. Today’s age is one of cheap glitter. With some new Raubritter (see them here) coming from the Silicon valley. The Trump era is gold-plated, for its ballroom, for its triumphal arch (to celebrate what victories?), for the Oval Office.
Inflation is stealing our power of buying. Tariffs are stealing our wealth. Unuseful war is stealing our taxes money which is not going to social fares or education or anything else useful.
Today, gilded sounds more like : shitty…