Peter T.,

Thank you for the excellent passage you posted.  That is dead on and it is alarming how fast culture has been changing/evolving/devolving in just the last fifty or so years. 

I am also a loyal viewer of The Homecoming (the pilot for The Waltons series) and watch it numerous times each year (my kids refuse to watch it due to saturation).

And though I did not grow up during the depression, we were not wealthy but did have a wonderful nuclear and extended family (though there was a period in the 70s/80s where economic times did hit us hard pretty good and I did get to watch my parents juggle the "final notice" stamped in red bills).

One thing I have learned over the years is that sometimes a family life lived where the members pretend to act as members of the bourgeoisie class on rare occasions like during major holiday celebrations can leave a more meaningful experience than actually being a member of the bourgeoisie class every single day.

And my Grandmother (paternal) carried the character of those fond of saying, "If you don't have something nice to say, then it's best not to say it." 

Character traits one just doesn't see promoted as much these days.