In the early 1900s, there was a focus on redistribution of wealth by the government.

This theory of economics with its concentration of power at the center of government is referred to as socialism. Socialism is commonly defined as when the government either owns or controls production (manufacturing, natural resources, food etc.) and the means of its distribution (banks, media, commercial agencies).

Our Founding Fathers warned us against these principles. They said socialism violates equal protection of rights and destroys the concept of limited government.

Socialism has never worked in any country. To achieve socialism, the people are levied exorbitant taxes and the nation accumulates a huge national debt.

The taxes collected provide billions of dollars for distribution by politicians. Billions of dollars are borrowed to the point where they won’t be able to pay the interest.

Our government leaders now have the power to take from the “haves” and give to the “have nots.” It seems all special interest groups consider themselves “have nots.”

We have all heard the old saying, “Give a man a fish he eats for a day, teach him how to fish he eats for a lifetime.” Redistributionists give him a fish and leave him dependent on the government for more fish in the future.

If the redistributionists were serious, what they would want to distribute is the ability to fish or to be productive in other ways. Knowledge is one of the few things that can be distributed to people without reducing the amount held by others.

The answer to this problem is for all of us to realize the fathers of our Constitution had it right. We need people in Congress who realize that the Constitution and a free-market economy are the only way to go.

Rowland Hastings, Augusta