Many "progress"ives say they want socialism only up to a certain point. (They usually don't bother to say where, however.) But common wisdom says that as long as the world is imperfect, which it will always be, then there will always be progressives agitating the government to solve problems or perceived problems.
Another question is whether the socialistic impulse leads invariably to a one world government.
I believe it does, because a one world government allows for more efficient redistribution of wealth, which is what socialism is all about. (Disregarding the fact that socialistic types seem most open to foreign aid.)
Consider this thought experiment:
In the county of Luzerne, in Pennsylvania, there are many elderly persons living on a fixed income, in addition to many living on disability and welfare. Average income is not high.
On the other hand, in Lancaster County PA, there's a lot of money. So socialists would jump at the chance to take money in taxes from Lancaster residents to give to poorer inhabitants of Luzerne County. This is socialism on the state level.
But what if we're considering a state like West Virginia where there isn't much money in any county? Then, socialists will lunge at the chance to take money from people living in PA via the federal income tax and to give it to inhabitants of WV.
Do you see where this is going?
Many libertarians like to quote the aphorism, especially in light of the Egypt turmoil, that "foreign aid takes money from poor people in rich countries, and gives it to rich people in poor countries." Those "rich people in poor countries" are strongmen like Mubarak. Even if aid is given directly to the poor living in (for example) Egypt, their rulers may decide to tax them that much more and thus would offset the benefit of the aid.
What would make this conundrum easier would be if there were no Mubaraks to take the money from the poor. In other words, if there were a one world government, wealth redistribution on a global level would seem more politically plausible.
To use an economics term, the "returns to scale" of socialism is world government.
Be advised that a one world government is not on the horizon. The Chinese are ultra-nationalist, and many other countries are as well. Moreover, many countries are closer to breaking up than to unifying with others.
But if a one world government ever becomes politically possible, and if that generation's progressives see an opportunity to redistribute wealth to the less fortunate, then you can bet they'll be on the forefront for bringing about a one world government.
So if socialists have an ideal political climate to work in, then socialism will beget a one world government.
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