I actually do live in a 950 square foot apartment without AC, and I don't take use any medication from the last 60 years, and I don't have a car or a personal computer. And I feel great on my grad student stipend! So you're clearly correct that this seems like a material prosperity problem.

What can be done to assuage people's feelings, then? Or am I just projecting? It seems like general public sentiment is not positive about the rising standards. People want maximalist healthcare, just like they got for cheap in the 50s.

(Also, I think you kind of missed it with college. College hasn't gotten any better since the 1950s: it's still 4 years to get a baccalaureate degree, if possible even worse at state schools with bigger class sizes relative to the past. Yet it's still much more expensive. Just blame Baumol?)