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Letter: Uncontrolled capitalism contributes to growing income inequality

(Phelan M. Ebenhack, Bo Rader | The Wichita Eagle via AP file photo) This combination of 2013 and 2012 file photos shows brothers David, left, and Charles Koch. In July 2018, an estimated 500 Koch donors — each having committed at least $100,000 annually — gathered in the mountains of Colorado for an invitation-only “seminar” that featured a handful of elected officials and high-profile influencers. The conservative network remains one of the nation’s most influential political forces.

The recent letter in The Salt Lake Tribune, “A mix of capitalism and socialism works best” by Stephen Clark on March 6, got it right. I would go on to add:

Capitalism has given Americans a good standard of living, but uncontrolled capitalism has hurt many Americans and contributed to growing income inequality. Many people cannot afford decent housing, healthcare, etc. As President Herbert Hoover said, “The trouble with capitalism is capitalists; they’re too damn greedy.”

Your enemy is not Mexicans coming across our southern border (a distraction created by the capitalists), it is greedy capitalists who have bought politicians and our system that lets them do it. We must demand publicly financed elections. Americans are being duped by capitalists to vote against their own interests by Fox News (right-wing media) and Koch Brothers (billionaire) money.

We need regulated capitalism so that average Americans can have housing, health care, safe communities, good educations, etc. We need to once again set an example for the world, as was done under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whom Utahns voted for four times.

Mark Rothacher, Salt Lake City

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