Question

Government programs created during the Great Society contributed to which of these problems in the late-20th and early-21st centuries?

rising crime rates

the rising national debt

the widening of the wealth gap

Answer 1

I would argue that all of these have occurred because of the Johnson's Great Society. However the most evident answer would be the rising of the United State's nation debt following the massive amount of government spending that came about with granting entitlements.

Answer 2

Government programs require money, often times money which is not yet available; hence the government relies on deficit spending to fund said programs and inevitably raises the national debt. On the contrary, however, I find it hard to believe Great Society programs resulted in a wider wealth gap (quite the opposite, actually) and I have never heard of it resulting in an increase of crime rate either unless you buy into the "race realist" rhetoric of right-wing ideologues like Pat Buchanan.