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The one accurate thing mentioned in the letters on socialism is that it is an economic term and is when a government has control of the means of production and distribution to effect price and amount.
Our elected officials pass legislation to control the output of oil and agricultural goods to keep the prices of gas and food down. In reality, the cost of gas and food is much higher. We just do not pay it at the station or the store but through our income or sales taxes, called subsidies.
America enacted the most socialistic practices during what is considered our greatest shinning hour, WWII. We, the government, through the people, controlled all sorts of industries, rationing goods and services and ramping up certain industries for the good of the war and the country. We are a democratic republic that passes legislation – some of which is economic and socialistic in nature.
If we pass laws to help people in need, it is not socialism, it is neighbors helping neighbors. We accomplish more together than apart. If anyone has prospered from socialistic policies passed by a democratic legislative body, it is the oil barons.
The USA has the highest level of income inequality of all industrialized nations. We subsidize oil companies who are making the highest profits in their history, bail out the banks when they break the law and cause economic catastrophes. But when we want to raise the minimum wage people cry, “Socialism! No!”
It is Americans wishing to help fellow Americans … 33 million of whom work for less than $10 an hour.
Jeff Varda