Letter: Liberal-run nations have their problems

Sunday, Dec. 19, 1999 | 10:10 a.m.

I would say, "How about none of the above?" Apparently the writer has never been to any of those countries. I've been to several. In all cases I've seen, taxes are exorbitant, food prices and other costs are very high, and the once thriving middle class is all but gone. It often takes months to get a doctor's appointment for the "free" socialized medicine. That's thriving?

The letter writer then goes on to challenge anybody to name any civilized, industrial country that has survived a capitalist dictatorship for any length of time. He's right, there is no such country, but only because I don't thing there's ever been such a thing as a "capitalist dictatorship."

The United States of America, however, has survived as a capitalist republic for 223 years. True, it's not thriving today as it once did, but only because of the socialism that began in 1933 and grows every year like a huge parasite. If it weren't for that, the United States would still be the world leader in the standard of living.

DAN PAYMAR

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