Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Last week an independent voter shared with me a concern that some people fear that socialism (business run by government) will ruin America.
So let us first examine two definitions – one for capitalism, and one for socialism – as these seem to be the foundation for the concerns being voiced today.
In very broad strokes, capitalism is based on private business dominating the economy for the purpose of generating wealth for the owners or stockholders by extracting it from working people who are paid only a small fraction of what their labor produces. Socialism turns this around so the class that produces the wealth can collectively decide how the wealth will be used for the benefit of all.
When these two forces meet, there is usually a lot of social discussion about which direction the country should go. U.S. history has recorded the pendulum swings in every generation over the issues raised by both belief systems.
Now, let’s look at some examples of socialism at work in America today.
First, the United States Post Office: Established by the Second Contintental Congress in 1775 with Benjamin Franklin as the first postmaster general, the US Post Office has proudly served all Americans, regardless of geography, at uniform price and quality. Up to at least 2006, the post office has been seen as a major part of the lifeblood of the economy. In 2006, the Republican-led Congress mandated $5.5 billion per year for the next 10 years to be paid into an account to pre-fund retiree health-care 75 years into the future – a requirement unique only to this government agency in an effort to privatize the post office.
So here we have the two forces in collision with each other – those advocating the post office should be run by private business in order to generate wealth for stockholders and those who advocate that the post office should be operated for the common good of all. Until this issue is finally decided, the United States Post Office is an example of socialism at work in America. It has not ruined America in 237 years.
Another example of socialism at work is Grand Coulee Dam. This federally-owned dam produces electricity and water for irrigation. It was built prior to World War II when many in business and Congress thought it would be a boondoggle and ruin this country. However, when the war began, its electricity became vital to the war effort, allowing Boeing and other private businesses to produce war materiel for the U.S. effort against Japan and Germany. This government-owned dam has not ruined this country.
Another example of socialism is the public hospital, paid for by taxpayers for the benefit of all. Such public hospitals in our area are found in Odessa, Davenport, Ritzville, Ephrata and Quincy. The hospitals in Spokane are owned by private business. Thus, residents in eastern Washington support both kinds of hospitals, those that operate as private enterprise and those that work as government enterprise. These public hospitals have not ruined the state or the country. They, like the private businesses in Spokane, offer services to all. The advantage in having a local public hospital is that those seeking health care can do so at home and have family able to visit them much easier than having family travel elsewhere to visit.
And so it goes for many other publicly owned enterprises, like city police and fire departments; public utility districts; jails and prisons; public county, state and federal highways and bridges; public schools; Social Security and Medicare; taxpayer subsidies to businesses and farmers; city, county, state and federal parks and monuments; public sewer systems; public water systems; Amtrak; the Tennessee Valley Authority; town, county, state and federal libraries. None of these socialistic systems have ruined America.
So those who fear socialism should take another look. Private businesses still provide services to the public and reward their investors with a share of the profits, while public businesses also provide services for the public with benefits for everyone.
The history of this country has shown that both systems can and do live side by side. History also shows that this country has needed both socialism and capitalism.
Duane Pitts
Odessa
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