Only in the United States is societal health equated with capitalistic expansion that in realty only truly benefits the upper 1% of citizens in terms of income and net worth. Here, in stark comparison with the rest of the developed world the top quintile make eleven times more money than those 'Mericans in the poorest fifth. In Japan, for example the top quintile only earns 4 times as much. Concentration of wealth is at a level not experience since the Gilded Age at the turn of the last century. The technological boom of the '80s and '90s benefited the already rich the most, leaving a shrunken middle class scrambling for jobs being eliminated or transferred overseas to low-wage zones. Consequently, working people are mired in increasing debt, increased cost for necessities, and with fewer and fewer health benefits provided by their employers. What the rich got was a massive tax break from successive administrations of both parties.
The Economic Policy Institute said of the 90's decade: "An average middle class family's income rose 9.2% after inflation...but they also spent 6.8% more time at work to reap it. Without increased earnings from wives, the average middle-class family's income would have risen only 3.8% over the decade. Middle class families held 2.8% of the total growth in stock-market holdings...but accounted for 38.8% of the rise in household debt." Downhill since Nixon, indeed. A fundamental shift in national policies favoring the "Money Power" is long overdue. It can begin with a wealth tax to fund Medicare for All, restore fiscal sustainability to Social Security, and provide subsidized higher education or skill training for those who want it. Socialism? You betcha!