> Tell that to the crackhead living in the rustbelt with no job. People addicted to drugs or without jobs are not new issues. > I know you can make the stats

> Tell that to the crackhead living in the rustbelt with no job. People addicted to drugs or without jobs are not new issues. > I know you can make the stats look like living standards are on the up and up That's a bit unreasonable, suggesting any and all statistics that disagree with your view are not trustworthy. > you would be ignoring the huge issue of income inequality which is root cause of the political instability the west is experiencing. Inequality and living standards are significantly different things. Do you have statistics to support the 5 decades of falling living standards claim?