Rep. Chris Stewart is right. No one wants to live under kind of socialism embraced by the former Soviet Union, Venezuela or North Korea. But if socialism is gaining in popularity, perhaps it is because capitalism is not working as promised.
Perhaps people are tired of stagnant incomes, lack of affordable health care and billions in tax cuts for corporate America while the rest of us receive pittances. On the other hand, socialism appears to be working quite well — if you’re wealthy.
As economist Emmanuel Saez points out, virtually all the increase in real income during the recovery from the Great Recession up to 2010 went to the top 1 percent of households.