Your Opinion: Socialism pervades government programs

Tony Smith, Jefferson City

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Dear Editor:

Americans like their Socialism. I wrote this last year, my favorite is the VA system.

As a Vietnam veteran I am entitled to some VA benefits. The VA is a government-run operation that owns its hospitals, hires its staff and controls its services. That is pure socialism. Of course someone wrote a response to say I was out of my mind. That response showed that some people do not know what socialism is.

About 40 percent of all governmental functions are socialistic. Is that surprising? I think about the citizens who write letters here repeatedly telling us socialism will be the downfall of civilization. They do not seem to understand the world around them let alone what the word socialism means?

A purely capitalistic system would be toll roads with no publicly funded highway systems. Capitalism would require individuals to pay for their services. Socialism funds public projects through general revenues and allows all citizens to participate in those services no matter what they have paid into the system.

A year or so ago in Obion county Tennessee firefighters responded to a call only to watch a home burn to the ground as they did nothing to save it. The county required a $75 fire protection fee. That is pure capitalism. The family tried to pay on the spot but was denied.

What if you had to pay directly for police protection or you were on your own? Who supports that?

There are no pure forms of capitalism, socialism or communism anywhere. Everywhere there is a mix of economic approaches.

The greatest public works project of all time — the interstate highways — was begun in 1956 after heavy lobbying by the auto industry. It was financed straight up by gasoline taxes and provided jobs and an on ramp to the new suburbs, which solved pressing postwar housing needs.

Cry all you want about government interference in the free market, but many of our most important government functions help the social sphere. At the same time America is the only country in the world where you hear someone say another citizen does not deserve health care unless they can personally pay for it.

There is a conservative effort to break down our balance between capitalism and socialism. Unless you think everything should be fee for services, citizens should oppose that trend.

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asb 1 year, 6 months ago

Very well said, thank you. Of course somebody is going to write or comment and say how they're tired of hearing your left wing rants that nobody buys, and that you should stop writing letters to the editor. You must be doing something right, go Tony!

asb 1 year, 6 months ago

Our social democracy has saved this nation. Walking a line between divine right and a Russian style oligarchy has made the greatest nation in history. American like their government, but they're just now seeing how much it's controlled by wealth and propaganda. Go Tony!

JMO 1 year, 6 months ago

NEWSTRIBUNE I have a question. Why can we comment on some of the "Your Opinion" letters and not on others?

My apologies to Mr. Smith, who wrote an intelligent and insightful letter, for hopping on here to ask this, but the one's I usually want to comment on don't have the option.

online_editor 1 year, 6 months ago

We try to limit commenting on Your Opinion pieces to signed letters to the editor. We like to encourage people to use that format and to respond to the authors who signed their opinions in similar fashion because it does have its own advantages and tone, compared to anonymous commenting, which also has its own advantages and tone. Unfortunately, we sometimes suffer a technical problem that interferes with our ability to set the administrative controls the way they should be set, like today. Sorry for the confusion and inconvenience that causes. --Rick Brown, online editor, News Tribune

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