Democratic socialism

Senator Bernie Sanders, Democratic candidate for president is often called a socialist when in fact what he proposes is a democratic socialism similar to the European Union. There are many ways to compare these two systems of government but one of the simplest is GDP and population. The United States with 318 million people produces 22% of the worlds GDP and the European Union with 505 million people produces 24% of the worlds GDP. On a per person basis it is $54,000 per person in the US vs $37,000 per person in the EU. In the United States all government spending including federal and state is 35% of total GDP and in the EU it is 49%. Gross Domestic Product, (GDP) is the sum of all Consumer spending plus Government spending plus interest and plus export/import. Compared to the US the EU has moved 14% (49-35) from Consumers to Government. People in government always want more power and they get that by getting more money to spend. It is their belief that they know better than the people on how money should be spent. If you believe that the government knows better how to spend your money than you do then you will lean toward democratic socialism.