Letter to the editor: Socialists & the presidency

I agree with The New York Times’ warning to Nancy Pelosi not to give too much power to the newly elected House Democrats who call themselves “Democratic socialists.” They will be a minority of the Democrats in the House.

I don’t enjoy being unkind or insulting toward anyone, even the Republicans in Congress, a sizeable minority of whom are really scary “survival of the fittest” social Darwinists, but you have to be a complete idiot to call yourself a “Democratic socialist.” That includes Bernie Sanders, who I like and agree with 90 percent of the time.

First, they are not true socialists because they do not advocate abolishing our capitalist economic system.

Second, if you believe that anyone who calls herself/himself a “socialist” can be elected president of the United States, then you must live in Dreamland.

I do agree with their belief that our federal government should do more and spend more to help the poor, the near-poor, the lower middle class and the middle class who are struggling to survive and to pay their bills. They need to inform and educate the public to the fact that almost every one of our traditional allies (if not all of them) have federal governments that do more and spend more (in proportion to their population sizes) than we do in the USA.

And, to paraphrase Al Pacino in the movie “And Justice For All,” for us to be right about this, all of these other countries have to be wrong.

I don’t think so.

Stewart B. Epstein

Rochester, N.Y.

The writer, a former Squirrel Hill resident, is retired from West Virginia and Slippery Rock universities, where he was a professor of sociology and social work.