I wonder if Joseph Rouff was serious, (“America needs more socialism,” Yuma Sun, June 19, 2012).  My first hint is his suggestion that we should be more “civilized” like Europe and provide for free health care and cast a broader social net for the needy. Has he noticed that the socialistic states of Europe are crumbling?

         And we are quickly heading in the direction of Europe.  Fully ½ of us are being fully supported by government programs, and 70 per cent get some form of financial assistance.  That’s quite a burden for the ever dwindling percentage of wage earners.

My second hint that he might be joking was his bemoaning our military spending.  Whether or not we should be fighting those wars or keeping troops all over the world is arguable.  And we probably spend more on defense than all the other countries of the world combined; but when you consider the entire budget, our military spending is a drop in the bucket.  According to the Congressional Budget Office, from 2001 to 2011 we spend 1.3 trillion on the military. That's 4.4 percent of the total budget: $29.7 trillion.

          With regard to income taxes, Mr. Rouff says that we need to raise taxes on the rich. “Rich folks pay only 16 percent taxes while many of the rest of us pay 30 percent taxes. This is totally unfair.” He is talking about those rich people who have investment incomes.  What he doesn’t consider is that that income was taxed first at the corporate level at a 35 per cent tax rate and then taxed again at the individual level at 16 per cent.

         And if he is one of the “Some of us pay 30 per cent taxes,”  he is making upwards of $300,000 a year. Shut up!

          I also think he might be joking because he’s a man, and I don’t think men like being on the dole. Women like being taken care of.  That’s one argument against giving us the vote.  We like our safety nets.  For the most part, men like the sense of fulfillment they get from providing for their families. Oops.  I just saw the top of your head blow off.  Okay, maybe that’s way too broad a generalization, but it certainly describes the world I’d like to live in.

          My most ardent argument against a more socialistic state is that it corrupts the human spirit. As Denis Prager says, we end up like those shiftless youth in England who out of boredom, go to Europe and piss in every fountain they can find.

          Furthermore, it encourages us to rely on government rather than relying on ourselves and our God.  I agree with our founders.  God intended us to be free, and “when we sacrifice our freedom for security we lose both.”