Dear editor:
Edward Gibbon wrote “[On ancient Athens]: In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all – security, comfort, and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society, but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.”
I am concerned for the path that our country has undertaken in the past few decades. Our citizens have been increasingly satisfied with a movement from capitalism to socialism. We’ve had Roosevelt’s New Deal, Johnson’s Great Society, George W. Bush’s Compassionate Conservatism, and Obamacare.
President Joe Biden endorses socialist policies, as have many of his predecessors. He is simply accelerating the process.
Capitalism is what has made this country great and differentiated us from other nations. Businesses and people have to be allowed to fail. You take a risk and you succeed or fail. That’s the way it works. If a business is not producing a profitable product or service, we don’t bail them out – we allow them to fail. Bailing out failing businesses, mortgages, and student loans will only prolong economic downturns.
So, with the current administration’s policies, we continue down the road of socialism, big government, individual irresponsibility, and national indebtedness. Barry Goldwater said it best: “A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away.” I fear that Edward Gibbon may be prophetic about our nation. Collectively, we need to wake up and turn back toward true capitalism.
Thomas M. Green
Greensboro