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Letter: School lessons in the ’60s suggested an America antithetical to current GOP extremism

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Kevin Johnson with Utah Patriots advocates for former President Donald Trump over keynote speaker, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at the Utah Republican Party 2023 Organizing Convention at Utah Valley University's UCCU Center on Saturday, April 22, 2023.

How the USA has changed in my lifetime.

What I was taught in the USA — not in California or New York but in Fillmore, Utah, in the 1960s: The political system of the USA is neither pure authoritarian republic nor pure democracy but a hybrid. In general, we go by the principle of majority rule, but we also recognize a need to check majority rule when a majority indulges in oppression of a minority. The economic system of the USA is neither pure capitalism nor pure socialism but a hybrid. In general, we are for free enterprise, but we also recognize a need for rules and for referees to enforce the rules. Then, our beloved Republican Party transformed into an extremist party that insists upon purity, pure unregulated capitalism, pure authoritarian rule, and is increasingly ready to employ violence in the service of its goals.

The USA’s Republican Party is trending toward fascism.

Charles Ashurst, Logan

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