Letter to the editor: Socialism vs. democratic socialism

It is about time that the American people were educated and informed about what true “socialism” is and is not. The fact is that in true socialism, “the means of production” are owned and controlled by all of the people. In other words, in true socialism all of the workplaces and businesses are owned, controlled and run by all of the people for the good and well-being of all of the people. They are not privately owned by individuals and groups.

In true socialism, we would not be totally equal in terms of how much we would get paid for our work, but it would be much, much more equal than we are now. We would share what we have.

People like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who call themselves “democratic socialists” are actually ultra-liberal/progressive Democrats who believe that our federal government should do more and spend more on the safety net and other social programs that help the poor, near-poor, lower-middle class, middle class and even the upper-middle-class.

They don’t advocate replacing our capitalist economic system with a truly socialist economic system. They support our capitalist economic system, but they want a capitalist economic system that has more federal government spending to help all of the people just as our traditional allies do more of than we do here in the USA.

So, Republicans and Democrats, please stop spreading the false belief that having a program like “Social Security” somehow makes us a “socialist” country. Because it does not.

Stewart B. Epstein

Rochester, N.Y.

The writer is a former Squirrel Hill resident who recently announced his candidacy for the U.S. Congress.