U.S. Demographics and Socialism
If you are wondering about where the U.S. economy is going for the next 20 years, you can bet on that it would become more and more socialistic. Nationalizing health care would only be a matter of time. And the government will take a larger and larger role in our lifes. How do I know that? It is simple, we have the following demographic drivers:
1. Baby boomers are starting to retire. After the recent crisis, most of them do not have enough wealth to keep their lifestyle. Would they vote for the government to take care of their health care and social security? You bet.
2. The shrinking of the middle class. The only classes that would oppose socialism and any form of wealth transfer would be the middle class and the wealthy. Unfortunately, the middle class in the U.S. is shrinking and we are seeing a concentration of wealth to the small rich class. This leaves a large segment of the population broke and wanting redistribution of wealth. And in a democratic system, they will vote their way to socialism.
3. The inability of the law makers to distinguish capitalism and crony capitalism. Government intervention causes crony capitalism (ie. easy monetary policies, debt guarantees, bailouts, etc) and thus enables excessive risk taking with other people’s money. Therefore, it is very easy for the law makers to attribute the fault to capitalism and try to “fix” the system by passing socialistic laws.
4. The tendency of the government to expand. With a diminished understanding and respect of the constitution, the government is finding its way to limit our liberty in the name of taking care of us.