To the Editor:

Re “Invoking New Deal, Sanders Says His Socialism Can Beat Trump” (news article, June 13):

Senator Bernie Sanders is doing our country a great service by bringing democratic socialism back into the mainstream of political discourse.

Abo ut 100 years ag o, socialism became popular in this country, as the economic inequality of the robber-baron era peaked. After the Great Depression commenced, President Franklin D. Roosevelt carried out his New Deal, and created social programs like Social Security, which remain popular today.

The rich and the powerful have sullied the word “socialism,” as our country has become an oligarchy that resembles the robber-baron era in many ways. Senator Sanders correctly believes that to restore a fair and just society, “we must take up the unfinished b usiness of the New Deal and carry it to completion.”

His agenda is particularly appealing to younger voters, many of whom are saddled with overwhelming debt as a result of a system that simply does not work for them.