Columnist not in tune with real socialism
Ken Obenski (WHT, April, 28) apparently finds our country in not-so-bad condition even though we have ceased to be democracy and become an out-and-out oligarchy ruled by money.
His description of socialism — “the state will provide everything” — is also dead wrong. Socialism is an economic system in which those producing goods control the way those goods are produced. The workers are also the owners — not the state.
For example, my dad owned a share at Everett (Washington) Plywood. He was an owner, the mill’s pipefitter and the vice president of the board of directors, an elected board that managed the plant.
That is “socialism,” Mr. Obenski. You no doubt have been educated in the capitalist education system that avoids any mention of the kind of successful worker-run businesses such as the economic democracy that provided my family with a very comfortable living.
William F. Johnston
Kailua-Kona