June 14, 1953 — The Indianapolis Star (Letter)
| The Mossadegh Project | March 31, 2020 |
Musing on the ubiquity of Socialism in America, this letter to the editor of an Indiana newspaper ran in the early months of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s first term.
One may recall that at the Presidential debates in 2015,
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the poster boy for socialism in the USA, claimed he was actually less of a socialist than
Eisenhower, citing record
high tax rates under the former President.
June 14, 1953
Taxpayer Does Not Get Money’s Worth?
To the Editor of The Star:
One of President Ike’s campaign promises was to end the trend toward Socialism in government.
Here are a few of the things that I wish that he would put a stop to. I have never had any children, still part of my tax dollar goes to pay for the education of other people’s children. Part of my tax dollar goes to the support of
the postal system. About all the letters I get are bills, so stop it.
Part of my tax dollar goes to build dams and other flood prevention measures on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. I don’t live near them, so stop that. Part of my tax dollar goes to support the Weather Bureau. Most of the time when
they predict sunshine it rains, so stop that.
Part of my tax dollar goes for R.E.A. electricity for farmers. [Rural Electrification Act] I live in town, so stop that.
Part of my tax dollar goes for public health, for the other fellow, so stop that.
The things mentioned are just a few that are socialistic. I could write all day, and still not be able to name them all.
Part of my tax dollar goes to support the bank depositors’ insurance. I haven’t got any money in the bank, so stop that. Socialism means taking from one to help another. So if Ike stops it, he sure has a lot of stopping to do.
HERBERT AMOS.
1302 S. Belmont.
This thematic letter ran beside the above one:
June 14, 1953
Letter To Citizen Who Has Not Given To Hospital Development
June 11, 1953
Dear Sir:
Do you want the Federal government to take over your business, throwing you out in the street and running your life’s work as a bureaucratized, socialized project?
If the government takes over the hospitals — and it has already taken long strides in that direction, through the Veterans Administration and through hospital subsidies—it will soon be knocking at your door.
The world is infected with socialism. Soviet Russia is in an advanced stage of the disease, England is fairly rotten with it, but our own country is also infected. Socialism is a cancer which multiplies and spreads through society a
cancer spreads through the human body. By no means are we sure that the spread of this social cancer ran be halted.
The responsibility of halting it rests on you and me. We must shout “No!” to all government subsidies and government controls. Whatever needs doing in our community, whether it is the building of a business or the building of a
hospital, we must resolutely turn our hacks on government and build it with our own hands and our own means.
Indianapolis is now engaged in a truly noble project, the raising of $12,000,000 to remodel and add to its hospitals. The people of Indianapolis are doing this job independently, without begging from government. In so doing,
Indianapolis is striking a blow for American liberty, and you have a chance to add weight of your arm to that blow.
You can’t afford to give? Brother, you can’t afford NOT to give! You think you are not making much money. Just how much will you make when socialism takes over the institutions of this country, including your business?
How much should you give? I don’t know. I do know that $12,000,000 is a lot of money. Just ask yourself how much is it worth to you that our city has top-notch hospitals to care for the sick and injured, among whom any of us may be
numbered at any moment?
More important still — how much is it worth to you that free institutions be maintained in America?
The Hospital Development Association is at 350 North Meridian Street, Lincoln 1487.
OSCAR W. COOLEY.
5121 Winthrop Ave.
Related links:
DNC Accused of Preselecting Presidential Nominee (July 1952 Letter to the Editor)
American Way Good, Let’s Keep It Forever (Oct. 1951 Letter to the Editor)
Iran’s Nationalism a Tool Of a Reckless Ruling Class | Weekly People, August 16, 1952
MOSSADEGH t-shirts — “If I sit silently, I have sinned”
