Here is an illustration of how the intellectual forebears of the modern egalitarian movement thought:
Everybody is poor together. There is much discontent, much regulation of life, but not much terrorism or repression except of the old upper classes.
That was Roger Baldwin writing about his gaga-eyed impressions of the young Soviet Union in the 1920s. Here is another doozy:
Laissez Faire rides well on covered wagons; not so well on conveyor belts and cement roads. Whatever the change that was happening it is going in the direction of more collectivism … Russia, I am convinced will solve for all practical purposes the economic problem … why should the Russians have all the fun in remaking the world.
That was Stuart Chase, MIT economist and part of the inner circle of New Dealers. The New Deal, as you astutely know, still influences us today. Have a nice day. (the above quotes come from Amity Shlaes’ terrific book, The Forgotten Man)