Could someone explain why people who are supposedly educated, people described as the smartest and brightest among us, continue to support an economic system that has never worked anywhere on this planet? The socialist utopia favored by most politicians, journalists, entertainers and elitists has never produced a higher standard of living for people than the capitalist system described by Adam Smith in his dissertation, “The Wealth of Nations.”

When the pilgrims arrived on this continent, they attempted a commune — they abandoned that in short order when there was not enough food production to feed the members of the colony. The Soviet Union tried the grand socialist experiment until it crumbled under its own weight.

The most recent example is Venezuela, an oil-rich nation booming in the late 1990s until Hugo Chavez threw out all of the evil capitalists. Today Venezuela is a third-world hell hole, their people are starving while their progressive government is imprisoning all the opposition.

What is going on in our country today is the result of progressive leaders who have said for years that we can have “free” stuff. Many among us believe that promise, but when it goes unfulfilled, those who think they are entitled claim victim status. Progressive politicians — Obama, Clinton, Sanders, etc. — then exploit the class divisions to further divide us.

What these divisive leaders fail to include in their tirades against those who have actually worked for a living, is that in any economy nothing is free. Somebody has to pay for free education, free health care, free food. It is completely disingenuous to promote an economic system that is doomed to failure.

Paul Anderson

Augusta