For the third time, the term “Marxist” was incorrectly used in the Star-Advertiser (“Imposing gambling tax a crawl toward Marxism,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Feb. 15). The idea of imposing taxes was championed by Adam Smith in the book, “The Wealth of Nations.”
As anyone who has studied economics knows, that book is the bible of capitalism.
Smith wrote: “The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.”
Marxism is an economic theory that eschews private property and believes that the means of production should be controlled at first by the state and ultimately by the workers who produce. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the imposition of gambling taxes. To the people slinging this word around ignorantly: Turn off Fox News and go to a library.
Learn what these words actually mean.
Sidney Goldstein
Chinatown
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