I feel like it wasn't bad but people also didn't care as much about money, status, power, fame, clout, or really anything that wasn't right in front of them. We were not as plagued by abstractions or weaponized desire-images sent down from the Capital
We also had the icee polar bear (https://imgur.com/a/w93PJsY) grinning down at us in many a fine retail zone and this was of benefit to all iirc