The men of a prehistoric tribe decided to hunt in a group and share their kill.  They thought it would be more effective, kill more game and no one would go hungry. They were probably the first socialists.

The U.S. is a blend of social democracy and capitalism.  Think about Social Security, Medicare, food stamps and farm subsidies.

A social democracy is a political, social and economic ideology that supports economic and social interventions to promote social justice within the framework of a liberal democracy and a capitalist economy.  The Nordic countries — Finland and Norway — are examples.

Democratic socialism advocates democracy alongside social ownership of the means of production, with democratic and self-management of economic institutions with a decentralized planned socialist economy.

Those who use the term democratic socialism may actually mean social democracy. We need to ask those who use the term exactly what they mean.

In recent years, the U.S. has been drifting toward a unitary executive form of government — a government in which a president has the ultimate power to issue executive orders and define national emergencies. Such a drift could eventually lead to dictatorship.

We must be watchful to contain the drift toward a unitary executive and to ameliorate the excesses of both capitalism and socialism.

— Roger Hull

China Grove