I wonder if Gerald Staack (letters, Jan. 3) would have the same attitude toward democratic socialism if he was a billionaire.
I’m not saying Mr. Staack is poor, he might simply be phenomenally compassionate, but it’s easier to tout the virtues of socialism when you don’t have hard-earned billions to protect from the hungry claws of the government.
And yet, I’m not saying that socialism is a bad thing. It takes a lot of money to run a country, but how much do we give and what do we get in return?
Ah-ha!
As for billionaires, it’s not that they need that much money (nobody does), but who in his right mind would happily hand it over to the government after working so hard to earn it given the government’s reputation for inefficiency, waste and abuse?
And that, I think, is the real rub.
The government is run by people … people who are greedy, selfish and stupid.
I wonder if Mr. Staack has a solution for THAT problem?
Arthur Saginian
Santa Clarita
