Dear Editor; Apparently there is still confusion about the differences between socialism as it exists today and communism. Socialist countries have high standards of living, great freedoms, freedom of religion and a high degree of capitalism. It should be easy to distinguish a socialist country from a communist country where few freedoms exist. Previously, I referenced the 18 socialist countries with standards of living above that of the U. S. Now, I would like to list them: Germany, Japan, Austria, Ireland, New Zealand, Iceland, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, Denmark, Canada, Finland, Belgium, Spain and France. I challenge anyone to show me how any of these countries is becoming communist. The U. S. S. R. began as a communist country in 1917 when one totalitarian country was replaced with another. Individual rights were few under the tsars, but were fewer under the communists. Mao’s communist revolution of 1946 – 49 also replaced one totalitarian regime with one even worse. Castro’s Cuban revolution of 1953-59 turned Batista’s dictatorship into yet another communist country. North Korea became a separate country in 1948 and immediately became communist under Kim Il-sung. There is no precedent for any socialist country morphing into a communist country. I personally do not claim to be a follower of any particular political or economic ideology. I merely look around the country and the world to see what works and what doesn’t work. Modern democratic socialism works very well in the countries that have applied it properly. Roy David Arrington Marlinton
