Income

Socialism comes to some countries often times through revolution but that is not the case for America. Over the past century socialism has slowly crept into the economy generally in attempts to help the less fortunate. The first big push was FDR's new deal. He wanted a second bill of rights. He wanted guaranteed good paying jobs, affordable housing, affordable medical care, affordable education and secure retirement. These are things that the majority of citizens want. He was able to get the last with social security. Next came the Great Society which provided free medical care for low income groups and Medicare for seniors. Today the big push is for affordable education and some propose guaranteed monthly income or guaranteed jobs. That leaves housing. In is easy to see a future where everyone has a government paid job, living in a government paid house and going to college for free with universal health care. The vast majority of the public would go for this. One way to see the long term results of this is to compare the US with the European Union. The GDP of the EU is $15 trillion and the population is 445 million or $34,000 per person. The US has a GDP of $22 trillion and the population is 330 million or $67,000 per person. The US produces 28% of the worlds GDP and has 4% of the worlds population. The US could provide all of the above benefits to its citizens but the cost would be $33,000 per person or about $11 trillion per year. The total income in the US is $20 trillion per year and the top 20% earned $10 trillion. This would almost be enough to provide the benefits listed above.