In 1946 during the Union strike against Ford Motor Company, Executives at Ford claimed that the Union demands were communistic. Walter Ruether, President of the Union, responded by saying that if wanting shorter hours, better pay and fringe benefits were communistic, he was a communist. This year in his State of Union address, President Trump stated that the danger to our country is the drift to socialism.
1. If believing that all Americans should have access to affordable, quality health care, then I’m a socialist
2. If believing that research that is funded by any of the National Health Institutes that leads to effective medication should be available at a reasonable cost, then I’m a socialist;
3. If believing that all American citizens have the same right to vote and that the voter suppression that occurs in Georgia and North Carolina is unconstitutional, then I’m a socialist;
4. If believing that women should receive the same pay as men for the same work, then I’m a socialist;
5. If believing that all workers should receiving a living wage with $15.00 per hour as a minimum, then I’m a socialist;
6. If believing that Congress is a co-equal branch to the Executive branch with the right to investigate the President, then I’m a socialist;
7. If believing that climate change is a danger to our country as well as our planet and that carbon emissions must be reduced, then I’m a socialist;
8. If believing that college and/or technical education is necessary for our prosperity and should be available at a reasonable cost, then I’m a socialist.
The danger is not the drift to socialism; it is the autocratic rule that President Trump believes in. We must elect people who are going speak and vote for women and men who will return the United States to a belief that government should serve all the people.
Phil Starr