To the Editor:

Re “The New Socialists,” by Corey Robin (Sunday Review, Aug. 26):

In Mr. Robin’s account of socialism, only when the workers of this country liberate themselves from the miseries and anxieties of capitalism — like having to work for a “boss” to provide for themselves and their families — will they finally be able to live free and happy lives.

The latest data from Northern Europe’s democratic-socialist countries suggest otherwise (“Gloom in the World’s ‘Happiest’ Nations,” news article, Aug. 27). Despite having the world’s most generous economic and social welfare systems for workers and nonworkers alike, depression, loneliness and stress are all on the rise. Young people are reportedly suffering the most.

The American capitalist system does not guarantee happiness — just its “pursuit.” As generations of Americans, including tens of millions of immigrants, have discovered, it is this freedom to pursue a better life that brings meaning to the lives of individuals, and collective benefits to all of society.

Stuart Gottlieb

New York

The writer teaches public policy at Columbia University.

To the Editor:

“The New Socialists” notes that there is growing support for socialism, and that there are successful people in politics who are self-described socialists, like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. There’s a problem, however. Look up socialism in almost any decent dictionary, and you will find something similar to this definition, from Merriam-Webster: “any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods .”