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Socialism

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I had to respond to last week’s letter to the editor from Jeff Dover, regarding socialism. His opinions are not based on facts about most Socialist countries. I am really confused about where he got his information.

I was born in Sweden and still have many relatives who reside there. Their country has a Socialist/Democratic form of government and in polls taken on government approval and happiness of citizenry, Sweden always ranks among the highest in the world. Although they pay high taxes, they receive universal health care, childcare for all working parents and excellent schools for their children, along with many other benefits including at least six weeks of paid vacation every year and paid maternity and paternity leave when they have children, up to three months. When I describe how much young parents have to pay for childcare in the U.S. to my Swedish relatives, they are shocked!

As for Jeff’s statement about our president and vice president having “power over others” to have the FBI arrest people without a warrant, he is totally misinformed!

Some people choose to make their case by citing extreme examples of corrupt and autocratic countries which were never effective democracies. When you talk about China and North Korea, you are talking about countries with extreme government control, which is not representative of Scandinavian countries that have very successful free societies with social programs that are much more liberal than anything proposed by Democrats in the U.S., including Bernie Sanders.

Please take the time to read about countries throughout the world which have Socialistic governments, where citizens live very happy, productive lives.