From 1870 to 1910: Illiteracy rate dropped over 3% every decade in the US. But between 1910 and every decade after , it only dropped <1%. https://nces.ed.gov/naal/lit_history.asp Life expectancy improvements were largely unchanged (except the great depression killed a lot of people). https://www.statista.com/statistics/1040079/life-expectancy-united-states-all-time/ If we scaled back our entitlement spending, scaled back our bloated military budget, we could completely eliminate income taxes, now. We could greatly reduce our military spending by closing all foreign bases unless the hosting nations pay for it (we can be nice: they can pay for it, at cost), bring all of our troops back home, and protect our own borders. After that, get rid of all the semi-military agencies (CIA, NSA, DHS). Get rid of the useless/harmful agencies (EPA, Commerce, Housing, and Education).