Letters, April 14, 2016 

Only Socialism Can Save Us
In 2008, I supported Barack Obama. I still get goosebumps when I watch the famous speech where he exclaimed that there is no white America or black America, no Latino nor Asian America. There is only the United States of America.

Eight years later, Obama has deported more immigrants than Bush. He didn't close Guantanamo Bay. He spied on us. He dropped bombs via drones on countless fathers, mothers and children. His crown achievement, Obamacare, is filled with concessions to insurance companies. We are poorer and working harder than ever before. If you are a Millennial entering the job market or a senior getting ready for retirement, the future has never looked bleaker.

Sure, we can't lay all the blame on Obama; he did have to deal with an obstructionist Congress. Obama probably would have liked to leave a more progressive legacy. But that just underscores my point: We cannot rely on Obama or Clinton. We need to build a left political alternative to the corporate politics of the Democratic Party establishment.

Socialism offers key insights about society that corporate politicians like Obama or Clinton don't understand. Contrary to Obama's analysis, we don't all want the same America. There are people that profit from the system as is. A more fair and egalitarian world would see their privileges lost. There is a conflict between those who profit from this increasingly unequal society and those who want society to become fairer.

As socialists, we understand the need to expose that conflict. The Bernie Sanders campaign understands that the problem is money and the billionaire class that controls it. The problem is capitalism! Bernie isn't afraid to say it—any politics that has any chance of cutting through the noise and confusion that the billion-dollar media machine creates needs to have that clear, socialist message.

A political revolution is needed, but one politician isn't a revolution. We need a broad socialist movement pushing a bold agenda and not afraid to say our current system is run by greed. It is run by capitalism—only socialism can save us.

Socialist Alternative is the group that elected Kshama Sawant in Seattle. She is a socialist, and completely independent of the Democratic Party and all the corporate cash that goes along with that. Socialist Alternative has started a branch here in Utah. The massive Bernie vote during the caucus shows there is a huge hunger for a more progressive politics right here in Utah. Join Socialist Alternative and help build the movement to create a fair and equal world.
Danny Bates
Salt Lake City

A Gripe Against Stupidity
Many things are going wrong in America when a nation demands a man's word, then follows God's word only. It makes me want to throw up. Don't get too upset—I'm not done yet.

From the letter to the editor, "A Crime Against Humanity," [March 17, City Weekly], Manuel Ybarra Jr. suggests we all dumb down and face the fact that we can't think for ourselves, and let God take care of it. Remember the saying: "God helps those who help themselves"?

In Ybarra's doomsday world, we've all gone to hell. A person like Ybarra must have completely forgotten history where there have been plenty of atrocities committed in the name of God. It's people like Ybarra who, without taking a long look on the other side, have shown throughout history the ignorance of humanity.

When it comes to Roe v. Wade, they got it right the first time. And that means to me the very essence of the term: "The will of the people." And they continue to still get it right, with their ruling on same-sex marriage.

Somebody needs to wake up, Mr. Ybarra.
Mark Hurst
Murray