LETTER: A few socialistic programs don’t have to ruin capitalism

In response to John Stossel’s Dec. 23 commentary, “Let’s get real about the allure of socialism”:

I believe Sen. Rand Paul’s book and Mr. Stossel miss the point. We already have socialist-type programs that help people and businesses. They are called the military, Social Security, K-12 education, fire, police and municipal water departments, etc. So how can it be such a catastrophic stretch to think that we can have a couple more programs that help people and businesses without ruining capitalism?

For example, we waste millions, if not billions, of dollars every year for insurance that has nothing to do with health care. It’s a middleman expense. I know the first thing people will say is that government can’t run health care. All I can say is that I am a 72-year-old who has had health care from Fortune 500 companies most of my life, and none has been better than the Veterans Administration health care I have had for more than 10 years.

Another example is having government address climate change by temporary supplements helping us move to renewable energy and away from fossil fuels. It’s more like going from typewriters to computers. This type of technology could free us from unending utility bills, climate issues and potential outages that come with centralized power distribution. I just don’t see how government intervention promoting and supporting a climate change mandate can be socialism. We already give subsidies to oil and gas companies, the auto industry and even banks, yet no one is calling that socialism.

We’re smart enough to figure out what is progressive capitalism and what are economy-ruining socialistic systems.