Letter to the Editor: I am a Socialist

To the Editor:

I’m a socialist. I don’t want free things. I want to pay for things in a different way and to live in a country based on morality and equity. I’m a socialist. I don’t want free things. I want to pay for things in a different way and to live in a country based on morality and equity. I’m a socialist. I don’t want free things. I want to pay for things in a different way and to live in a country based on morality and equity. I’m a socialist. I don’t want free things. I want to pay for things in a different way and to live in a country based on morality and equity. Maybe if I write those sentences four times Mr. Engle will be able to actually understand what I write.

What came to my mind while reading Mr. Engle’s letter was the following quote from the movie Miss Sloane (2016): “If they can produce a rational winning argument, I’ll gladly migrate to their side, but ‘because it says so in the Constitution, the Bible, or my horoscope’ is not a winning argument. It’s a ripcord; the intellectual equivalent of a yellow, pant-pissing wimp cowering behind mommy’s skirt.”

Please convince me why I should support a party willing to take health insurance from nearly 30 million people, most of whom will die or become bankrupt without it. Tell me how becoming a slave to the oligarchy allows me more freedom. Why should we allocate public funding to religious schools who discriminate? Why should I believe the voices of big oil over literally every scientist in the world?

Want to know what’s in the new healthcare bill? Aside from the huge tax break for the rich, insurers no longer have to cover pregnancy, newborn care, mental health services, rehabilitation, prescription drugs, birth control, and no protections for pre-existing conditions. And these men and women cheer and drink beer in the capitol building while their constituents suffer. Wait, Republican constituents are corporations, so never mind.

Again, if you think this country is going broke because of what we spend on the poor, you should see how much we spend on the rich. Please note, when I say rich, I don’t mean people with money in Allamakee County; I’m referring to the eight men who own the same wealth as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity. I’m referring to CEOs, Wall Street executives, lobbyists and tycoons who exploit our country for every ounce of money or resource they can strip from us. Why is it easier to believe 150,000,000 Americans are being lazy instead of 400 Americans being greedy?

Big business and the super-rich are fueling the inequality crisis by dodging taxes, driving down wages and using their power to influence politics. Democratic Socialism calls for a fundamental change in the way we manage our economies so that they work for all people, and not just a fortunate few. We don’t just bend over for the oligarchy to continue to steal any and all resources they can from the poor and working class. If I’m annoyed by anything it’s rich, old, white men complaining about paying too much in taxes while there are people out in the world with actual problems, suffering from systemic oppression which could easily be fixed if we took on the rich and powerful.

I’m also familiar with the “top economists” that deemed Bernie’s policies too pie in the sky. If you look into the names you can clearly see most of those who signed are Wall Street executives. Who doesn’t want Bernie’s policies implemented? Wall Street and bankers. Luckily, we don’t need to wonder if Bernie’s policies work. We can see them working every day in many industrialized countries.

I can’t say it better myself, so here’s a quote from Elizabeth Warren: “There is nobody in this country who got rich on their own. Nobody. You built a factory out there - good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory... Now look. You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea - God bless! Keep a hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”

Also, pray for Trump (Psalm 109:8).

Best,
Jacob Galema
Lansing