"The 20s ushered in happy times, music, dance, and a newly found sense of freedom from WWI and the Spanish Flu pandemic."

Right, still looking back we also should inquire as to who was happy. Were the blacks, coal miners, southern immigrants, and the whole labor force ALL happy?

Let's face it, most Americans or really many nation-state citizens anywhere have some kind of rose-colored lens looking back, that just happens.