Let’s talk about the scary word socialism. Most “boomers” have been hardwired to equate it with communism. We remember school drills where adults would pretend that we could escape annihilation by hiding under our desks. People were building bomb shelters in their back yards. Every imaginable threat in our news, books and films renewed our trepidation of imminent danger.

Did you know that Einstein self-identified as a Democratic Socialist? His childhood dread of totalitarian regimes in pre-Nazi Germany was reinforced daily where he was mocked and abused by his teachers and schoolmates cemented a lifelong quest for freedom and individualism.

Webster’s dictionary “In the modern era, systems of social democracy, now often referred to as democratic socialism, in which extensive state regulation, with limited state ownership, has been employed by democratically elected governments (as in Sweden and Denmark) in the belief that it produces a fair distribution of income without impairing economic growth.

Income inequality now is at extremes not seen since the Gilded Age. Runaway Capitalism where corporate profits have more standing than our health, our safety and our planet. Bribing politicians is legal through campaign donations. A new Princeton study showed the collective will of the bottom 99 percent’s desires amounted to white noise in getting legislative relief whereas the top one percent had an 80 percent chance of success.

Don’t you think it’s time for a change?

Hallette Salazar,

Kingston