That’s not socialism

Right-wing conservatives ride a false narrative of socialism to oppose and demonize every progressive issue proposed by the Democratic Party. Their view of socialism is the communist version where the government owns and controls everything and everybody is a government employee. This version doesn’t work. Cuba and Venezuela are proof that it doesn’t work. Progressive issues to provide a safety net for those who are less fortunate are not promoting the narrative of socialism that the far right tries to portray.

On the Washington Mall there is a memorial to President Franklin Roosevelt. It consists of 12 vertical granite slabs, each depicting a year of his presidential reign, configured as three rooms to represent his three terms in office. (He was elected to a fourth term but served only 82 days in office when he died.) On each slab are quotations chronologically with the year in office. The one that remained with me over 20 years since my visit is for Jan. 20, 1937: “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

I believe this quote is more aligned with the Democratic Party reaching out to those who desperately need help in these trying times rather than the false narrative that the Democratic Party is socialism and an attempt to take control of our lives.

ROGER LEWIS

Conway