I’m writing in response to Roy J. Schimelpfenig’s Nov. 27 letter, “Reject Socialism in America.”
Socialism is production based on the needs of the people. As implemented in many countries, such as Sweden, this includes a market-based element. Capitalism, in its purest form, is production only for profit. One implication of capitalism is that it equates human labor with objects by equating both with a monetary value. For that reason many people have moral, as well as practical, objections to capitalist extremism. America has been moving in the direction of capitalist extremism for the past few decades, because of attempts by the wealthiest to divide us.
Everything — literally everything — in Schimelpfenig’s letter about Socialism is wrong. And, no, Schimelpfenig’s letter does not rise to the level of an “opinion” piece. One needs a rudimentary command of relevant facts to have an opinion worth publishing. Letters such as Schimelpfenig’s are another side of the “fake news” epidemic we’ve been seeing.
