Strycker Loc: The middle of somewhere else.

A small part of the Progressive Democratic Socialist agenda... job-guarantee program, basic-income programs, universal health care, free college education, 100% renewable energy at any cost, a new public bank, universal paid leave program, codification and further limitations or elimination of gun rights and free speech, any other programs the government may deem appropriate to promote economic security and labor market flexibility.

The left is pushing many universal government programs. An argument can be made for the short term feel good aspects of these programs. Who doesn't want to help their neighbors and those less able to help themselves? Who doesn't like the idea of everyone having the opportunity for education, good health care, a good standard of living or economic success? Certainly there is a huge political benefit for politicians to promote tax payer funded giveaways. However, the accumulated cost of these feel good programs will cost tens of trillions, if not hundreds of trillions of dollars. Single payer health insurance alone nearly doubles the annual federal budget. Add the other progressive programs in and it is not doable at all financially. These programs can only be paid for by significantly increasing taxes and massive wealth confiscation. Therein lies the inevitable downfall of social programs. Why go to work if your efforts only minimally increase your standard of living?

The affordable care act demonstrated this perfectly. If you were earning say 20k a year you got subsidized health insurance for under $1000 per year. If you increased your annual income to 30k by taking on a second job working 20 hours a week at $10 per hour your insurance premiums increased to $7200 per year. Your 10k annual income increase, after taxes and health insurance premiums, left you with $1700 a year of additional income for your efforts. Why bother working harder to improve your living standard for so little return on you efforts?

The basic income program will result in the same scenario. If you can choose not to work and get 20K a year why go to work for 2000 hours for 30k and only minimally increase you standard of living. The more universal programs you have to support the worse the return on effort gets.

A single program can bankrupt America. All of the progressive programs combined will destroy it. Private insurance will be replaced by universal health care. Private banks will be replaced by a national bank. Private higher education will be replaced by free public education. Small private businesses will be regulated into bankruptcy. Some already are. Larger companies will be consolidated and forced to submit to government regulation and price controls in order to survive. Some already are. Democratic socialist government doesn't need to federalize industry. It only needs to control industry and production through regulation and taxes. All of this is openly stated in current proposed Progressive plans or is already occurring.

As the incentive to succeed disappears to higher taxes and lower returns on efforts, as the job market shrinks from eliminated industries, as the incentive to work shrinks, more individuals will opt for the guarantee income and care provided by government. The inevitable result over time will be lower labor participation. As happened under Obama policies. As more people drop out of labor participation higher taxes will necessarily increase on the remaining producers at all income levels driving more to drop out. The death spiral of the middle class will have begun. Just look at all the people stuck on generational welfare programs. Eventually there will not be enough producers or enough taxable personal wealth left to sustain the feel good social programs. It's at this point that the real changes start. The ens***ement of all Americans truly begins.

Those that v**ed for and benefited the most from the progressive social programs will the first to pay dearly. When there are not enough producers then guaranteed jobs become mandatory jobs. The job choices will be limited to what the government determines the labor market flexibility needs, what promotes economic security for the state and society. The individual is secondary to society. It won't matter if you want to be a artist if society needs more mechanics and less artists, you will be a mechanic. Same with free college education. You will major in what government decides will benefit society regardless of your sk**ls or desires. And certainly don't dare think that you can refuse your guaranteed assigned job or your assigned free education. Don't think you can complain. That will be deemed offensive speech against the state. Don't think that the constitution will protect your rights. It has been deemed a fluid document to be redefined at will.

If you choose to buck the system, if you refuse your assigned job or your assigned education, you will find that your guaranteed income disappears, your guaranteed job disappears You will find yourself in a hut in Alaska or a work camp in the desert. The first to v**e for democratic socialism will be the first to be eliminated once the freebies no longer exist. In the end many that don't, won't, or can't contribute, will pay with their blood. The rest of us will be ens***ed by the system that those who v**ed for Democratic socialism created. It may take only a few years or it may take decades but this is the inevitable result of the progressive democratic socialist programs. History has borne this out. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Crony capitalism is also not sustainable. But, that is a different topic.