Can you give me an example from history where people peacefully accepted a permanent reduction in their standard of living? Don't use the example of a war because A) It was supposed to be temporary, and B) They physically didn't have a choice. And contrary to the happy talk about rationing in WW II, there was a thriving black market during the war. So you better get to work on the technological solutions, since they are all you've got.

By the way, the Iron Curtain fell because the communists had lots of tanks and jets and even spaceships, but no dishwashers, or color televisions, or personal cars, and in the capitalist west they did, along with better food and freedom.