Yes, look at that. The overall numbers in the first graph is NOT what is important, because populations grow over time. What is important is the second graph, where the poverty rate has pretty much stayed steady - between 12-15% since the mid 1960's. Yes, we have more people in poverty now than before then because our population GREW...but our poverty RATE is not that much different.
Speaking of the Depression, what brought us out of the Depression? WWII, of course. And how did WWII bring us out of the Depression? I mean, if socialism is always bad, then WWII should have driven us further into the Depression instead of pulling us out of it, since WWII was - in economic terms - the biggest government-funded economic stimulus in American history, complete with millions of government jobs that were not there before, and millions more of government-funded jobs building ships and tanks and whatnot.
Problem is, according to conservative economic dogma, what we did to build our military for WWII SHOULD have driven us further into the Depression.
"Cost of living", sir, does not matter much at all. How do we know this? Pick a rich city - ANY rich city - and see what the cost of living is there. Singapore? Monte Carlo? London? Tokyo? Sydney? Hong Kong? Go ahead, pick one! Are the people living there in grinding poverty? No. What matters more, sir, is cost of living
compared to median wage. What matters is the overall STANDARD of living, not the cost of living. Otherwise, if this were not the case, then Mississippi would be the most prosperous state in the nation...but it's not. Instead, Mississippi's standard of living is - like its cost of living - at the very bottom.
Also, you're comparing apples and oranges. You're pretending that those "socialist countries and closed market countries at the bottom" are what I'm talking about...but I am NOT talking about them, am I? I am referring to
first-world socialized democracies...which includes most of western Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan...and America. NONE of these are "closed-market" economies...and ALL of them are socialized democracies. FYI, the fact that a nation is a socialized democracy does not guarantee first-world status...but it makes it a heck of a lot more likely. Conversely, the fact that a nation has small government, low effective taxes, and weak regulation may not absolutely guarantee third-world status...but it sure as heck looks like it.
America's more socialized than you seem to realize.
Most of our federal budget is taken up with socialistic programs - welfare, HUD, social security, HHS, you name it. Sooo...yes, America IS a socialized democracy and has been one probably since before you were born. Get used to it.