(* The leftist is motivated by a conviction that everyone will be better off if his views/policies are adopted. *)
More like: The leftist is motivated by a conviction that everyone will be equally poor, just like him, if his views/policies are adopted.
Equality: "Joint Suffering"
In my view, the leftists want to make the US more like Europe.
The thing is, there are already plenty of Europe-like nations, but only one US-like nation.
Thus, in the spirit of variety, I don't want to see the US become like Europe (just yet).
If you are a gungho leftist, then go live in Europe.