You can get the same picture with a comparison of any country devoted to free market economics and one with a government-run socialist economy. But the contrast between Poland and Venezuela is pretty stark. After the fall of the Soviet Union and its kleptocracy, Poland committed to free market reforms and viola, look at the growth in citizen welfare. Venezuela under Chavez became, and Maduro kept it, a socialist authoritarian hellhole, in which a few ran everything and got rich and the masses struggled to even have enough to eat. This in an oil rich country, but the government ran the oil industry, and ran it right back into the ground.
But by all means, lets bring socialism to the US so we can all live through the same experience instead of learning by watching what has happened in other countries.
I did a project in Poland in 2008. One night when I was being driven back to my hotel, I asked the driver why communism didn’t work. I had a crew of very competent, hard working, cooperative workers. They made good suggestions most of which I incorporated. He said, “Back when we had communism those men believed they owned the factory and didn’t have to work. Now that you Americans own the factory they have decided they do have to work.”
The years with the lower GDP directly corresponds to years under communism and/or socialism regimes.