My point was not to refute that taxes went up, but rather that they didn't go up in a vacuum. Wars were financed, population and productivity increased by huge

My point was not to refute that taxes went up, but rather that they didn't go up in a vacuum. Wars were financed, population and productivity increased by huge amounts, and the entire economy shifted from an agrarian to an industrial one. The country's massive physical, social and and human infrastructure was built, one that the current high standard of living is still largely dependent on. It is highly motivated reasoning to only highlight the tax rate increases without the sweeping societal changes that accompanied them.