Letter to the Editor: Socialism does not work any better than the Progressive movement

To the Editor:

In his letter of September 6, Jacob Galema has a couple of things right. We need to reduce/eliminate waste and fraud in the government.  And we need to end corporate welfare. On everything else he is wrong.

His plea to support his “dude Bernie” requires that you give up the notion of self reliance and self determination and let the government take care of you. That is not what made America great and it will certainly do nothing to improve it.

I am not willing to give the government any more power at the expensive of individual freedom. I will continue to promote that as long as I can take a breath. We do not need any more power handed over to the government.

Jacob has bought hook, line and sinker the argument of the Clintons, the Obamas and his “dude Bernie” that we need to engage in class envy and class warfare and take from the wealthy and give to the poor. That is right on the verge of “...to each according to his needs.” That strategy has been pushed shamelessly by the Democrats/Progressives for the past eight years. After working much of my life to defeat such notions, I am appalled that it has been pushed so hard by the Democrats and the Progressives.  They have not learned the most important lesson of the 20th Century, that such policies are  completely contrary to Capitalism and doomed to fail.

The Democrats are the ones who declared that some banks had to be protected because they were too big to fail. No one has suggested that Jacob is a Democrat. He has proudly proclaimed that he is a Socialist/Progressive.

Jacob claims that he has a copy of the Constitution in his bookshelf. I wonder if he can point out where it says that the government has a right to tax an estate when someone dies. He implies that whoever becomes wealthy does so at the expense of everyone else. That could not be farther from the truth.

That happens because someone is willing to work his tail off and make something for himself and his family. The Constitution assures that anyone can try.  It does not guarantee that all will succeed.

He continues to attack the spending by the military, which, I point out again, is the only spending that is required by the Constitution.

Jacob quotes copiously from his “dude Bernie’s” talking points, most of which are distorted and slanted to make his arguments more palatable. Most economists state that “dude Bernie’s” programs would increase all taxes to an intolerable level.

No one is talking about total deregulation. Nor are we talking about regulating everything. We are talking about keeping big government out of private lives.

Jacob seems to define himself very clearly with his desire to be able to smoke pot any time he wants. Colorado will welcome him with open arms.

No to Pot, No to Progressives and No to Socialism.

Lowell L. Engle
Harpers Ferry