We live in a welfare state. We have 70 million on Medicaid and 47 million receiving food stamps. Government at all levels spends over a trillion dollars a year on means tested welfare programs.
We have the lowest labor participation rates since 1978. All employment growth went to immigrants since 2000 and the number of U.S.-born not working grew by 17 million .
This surplus of labor is being fueled primarily by legal immigration. We bring in 1.1 million legal permanent immigrants a year, many of whom are poor and uneducated. They take American jobs, depress wages, and use the welfare system to a greater extent than the native born. They are being subsidized by the taxpayer for education (K-12), healthcare, and incarceration.
Consumers need money to buy goods and services. More people on welfare and lower paying jobs don't create wealth except for the very few, who privatize profits and socialize the costs. You need to look at the total costs to the country, just not at the costs of consumer goods.