Jeanette Blonigen Clancy

Avon

Adam Ulbricht's opinion that democratic socialism comes with hypocrisy reveals a misunderstanding of democratic socialism. It does not reject market capitalism.

Democratic socialism checks the excesses of capitalism — power-grabbing, union-busting, profiteering at the expense of workers, consumers and all citizens with less money and power.

The U.S. already has forms of socialism. Our taxes fund highways, airports, libraries, police, the Defense Department, schools, fire departments, FEMA and the list goes on. They keep the nation viable, and some enable weaker persons to survive — Social Security and Medicare. No one wants to abolish them or the VA, another socialist institution.

Others protect us from dangers: the EPA from dirty air, water and soil; FDA (dangerous drugs and pricing); consumer protection agencies (corporate wrongdoing); CDC (health and safety); and more. But the Trump administration is weakening or even dismantling them, saying regulations are bad for business.

This is where democratic socialism comes in. It balances unbridled capitalism with socialist concern for all. The Affordable Care Act offered health care to people who can’t afford it in a strictly capitalist system, but the ACA was unacceptable to those who think “socialism” is a dirty word.

Unions, another form of democratic socialism, are needed to prevent a few bosses from controlling wealth produced by many workers. Right now, workers who produce wealth are not enjoying the fruits of their own productivity. CEOs pay themselves 300 times more than their workers.

Capitalism needs socialist checks on the power of capitalist bosses to get ever bigger pieces of the pie. This is the work of democratic socialism. It would limit the power of Big Money by taxing excessive wealth fairly and check its ability to control governments. Without socialist checks, Washington, D.C. becomes an enemy of the people instead of our protector.

Capitalism is not threatened by democratic socialism, only made more fair.