Dear Editor;
I applaud my brother, Frank Hickson, for having the knowledge, courage and words to express our discontent with the article written by Jamie Strauss.
It needed to be said.
Frank’s namesake was Frank Edgar Burris, our uncle, who was killed in action in World War II.
Respectfully,
Connie Hickson Smith
Clarksville, Tennessee
Dear Editor;
In reviewing last week’s letters to the editor, I found several areas which I felt deserved further exploration, with the underlying theme being Socialism.
While I found Mr. Bird’s letter compelling, I felt he undercut his whole premise using the term Democracy rather than Republic. In a Democracy, there is no Bill of Rights. It was Vladimir Lennon who said, “Democracy is indispensable to socialism.” This is an especially important point, when distinguishing our republican form of government from others.
Mr. Knight’s letter caught my attention by suggesting “Hitler’s Fascists were Socialist in name only.”
Ironically, as Ludwig Von Mises observed, “in name only” was a fitting description of “private ownership of the means of production” under the Nazis. Let us not forget German price and wage controls, combined with runaway spending. Gun control, anybody?
What really gets under my skin is when someone suggest that Capitalism is causing all our problems. I would argue that our drift away from Capitalism has exaggerated the problems of which they complain. If you are looking for Fascism, look no further than Governors locking down the States, no law – just stroke of the pen. Like the good Germans, we just follow orders.
Mr. Arrington’s letter seemed more in line with the usual talking points promoting Socialism. He cites a 2016 piece ranking 19 countries ahead of the US in standard of living (as defined by the Social Progress Imperative). One of the main pillars of this ideology is the narrative of the socialist utopia nation. This is usually underscored by using the Nordic countries as the perfect examples. In 2016, the Danes openly criticized Bernie Sanders for insulting their country by floating the Nordic socialist utopia as his model.
These countries are characterized by remarkably high tax rates, generous welfare and now open borders. Just as in the US, this is proving to be a recipe for disaster. One of the areas that helped these countries historically, was lack of government intrusion into the marketplace, which I feel should be embraced.
If “Socialism and communism are at opposite ends of the economic and political spectra,” I would suggest many of us are outside the “spectra.”
What we are facing today is not so much socialism, but Cultural Marxism. Demonstrated by the pulled down statues. What is sad is that the woke mob cannot comprehend how uninformed they look destroying statues of abolitionists (peacefully, of course). Censorship is now the norm, openly promoted by the same journalists who have abandoned objectivity.
The good news is The Pocahontas Times has not adopted cancel-culture policies.
I commend everyone for sharing their opinions.
Craig Young,
Dunmore