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Prices have gone up faster. We consume junk, continuosly. "robbed" because voters accepted capital concentration by accepting that it would trickle down, whic

• adventured 8y ago
  It's not a lie. The US welfare state has massively expanded since 1980. The percentage share of GDP transferring via welfare state policies has doubled in 20x years. Both poverty and homelessness are near 50 year lows. Healthcare coverage is near an all-time high, thanks in part to the vast expansion of the welfare state. All of that is being paid for by the rich. The US has one of the most progressive taxation systems in the developed world. The US middle class is among the least taxed of any middle class in the developed world, which is also why the US median disposable income is among the highest. If you go back to 1980, the inflation adjusted per capita income transfer going to welfare policies, was close to $3,500. Today it's near $9,000. That's a dramatic expansion of the social safety net in the US, and it has had very tangible, very dramatic positive results (including a large reduction in homelessness).