Taxes were much higher than they are now in the post-war period, and there was a lot of gov. spending on housing, hospitals, higher ed. and creating Community Colleges. But when Ronald Reagan led the anti-tax revolution, the will to tax and spend on social programs became wildly unpopular. +
An example is public school bonds. R-W media influencer Rush Limbaugh went on a crusade against them, telling empty-nesters that they shouldn’t have to pay for other people’s kid’s education. D pols have been fighting against the anti-tax thing but it’s really hard to raise taxes in this country.
It’s why things like free college, and free healthcare are largely wish-casting. The reason why European countries are so far ahead of us in social spending is, after WWII they were determined to make their society better for everyday people + they didn’t have an anti-tax movement like ours.