To the Editor:
Re “‘Socialism!’ Boo, Hiss, Repeat” (Week in Review, March 1):
The government pays for police departments, other law enforcement agencies and the military, so I guess we have socialized security. The government pays for public schools, so I guess we have socialized education.
The government pays for cleaning the streets and waste disposal, so I guess we have socialized sanitation. With any luck, someday, the government will take on the responsibility of truly providing health care for everyone in the country, so I guess if that’s socialized medicine, I can hardly wait.
If conservative Republicans are trying to make a fear of socialism their rallying cry to upset the Obama administration’s efforts to deal with our economic crisis, that pitiful effort will only make them look even more ridiculous in the eyes of the general public.
Michael Spielman
Bronx, March 1, 2009
Note from KBJ: The first (and arguably only) duty of government is to protect its citizens from each other and from external aggressors. Many proponents of limited government would argue that there should be no public schools. By the letter writer's logic, we should have socialized nutrition, socialized housing, socialized fuel provision, and socialized clothing. Where does he draw the line?
Note 2 from KBJ: Here's another way to look at it. There's a morally relevant difference between preventing people from harming each other, which is justified, and forcing people to help each other, which is not. The former encompasses law enforcement, the military, and public sanitation, but not education or health care. Your education and health are not my responsibility.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 