Are our beliefs/values/opportunities any different from those in the 1940-50's or the 1970-80s?

I think the original question was written by a leftist professor who thinks the American experience is one of ignoring vital social problems. But these plays are focused on one person in a particularly unique circumstance. They do not speak to the American experience of the Midwestern farmer. They only barely touch upon my life, that of a Western theatre artist and teacher. Of course things are different today. We have many social issues that we did not have in the days of those plays. We have unemployment, recession, inflation, the War on Terror, the drugs coming over our borders and an enormous debt that is about to bankrupt our country. The fifties and the eighties were days of growth and prosperity. Today is a time of economic disaster.