In other words, when they'd have a thin veneer of decency to try to rehabilitate their robber-baron image, after already having exploited the people under them for decades unchecked to get to that point? Those are what you're calling the "good old days?"

...okay, fair enough — sad to say, but that is marginally better than the status quo now!

But still, if we're setting goals I'd prefer they be about stopping the exploitation in the first place rather than trying to encourage self-serving philanthropy afterwards.

Tbf those rich people were simultaneously waging literal war (like with guns and everything) against their workers.