During a recent visit to Concord, I read Steve Earle’s Oct. 5 letter to the Monitor (October 5) warning us against the dangers of socialism and its “troubling history of resorting to totalitarianism.”
I believe Earle should know that socialism in New Hampshire has existed for more than two centuries and is flourishing today. Did he realize that the first tax-supported public school began in Hampton in 1649, or that by 1796 the towns of Dover, Portsmouth, Rochester and Tamworth all had public libraries?
Socialist institutions can be identified by the word “public,” as in public streets, public health departments, public water and sewer systems, public schools, public police and fire departments, even public parks. Is there a town in New Hampshire without most of these institutions?
Most Granite Staters realize that collective actions to meet mutual needs can be efficient and time-saving, certainly better than each of us trying to find our own source of safe water. As for “resorting to totalitarianism,” well, no signs of that so far.
CHRISTOPHER LANDEE
Worcester, Mass.