Editor, Gazette-Journal:

I must take exception to the premise of the letter by Mairi Furniss (“Democratic Socialism: Maligned and misunderstood,” Oct. 1 Readers Write). It is she who misunderstands the issue and presumes to confuse Democratic Socialism with social good order. I refer to the wisdom of the founders in crafting the Constitution, where social good order is established by limiting the power of government wherein the words “no” and “not” appear 24 times in the first seven articles and 22 more times within the Bill of Rights.

For many, socialism is viewed as a political system that promotes an establishment of state-sponsored welfare. The danger of that system lies in the exchange of personal liberty for a presumption of economic security. We might recall Jefferson’s prescient words regarding becoming as wolves with the corruption of power. A further example of the encroachment of the power of socialism was best described by the 19t...