To the editor:

The conceit of the elite is astounding. If “income inequality” doesn’t resonate then maybe “opportunity” will. It’s not about caring one whit about opportunity; it’s about “finding an issue.” To stay in power. To further the socialist agenda.

The defining characteristic of socialism, however, is “failure.” Think China compared to its diminutive neighbors of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. Ecology? Think of the Aral Sea. Think of Mexico’s state-run oil company refusing to pay damages for its 1979 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The U.S.? Our “War on Poverty.” Not won. After 50 years. Enacted to end dependence on government, the exact opposite the result.

Socialism is no stranger to cronyism. Consider the “too big to fail” TARP bailout. The conceit of the elite ought to be blatantly obvious. Talk about government underwriting income inequality! Billionaires on the brink of huge losses enriched at ordinary taxpayer expense. And Congress? While most American retirement accounts lost 40 to 50 percent, U.S. Senators on the whole beat the market by 12 percent. Insider knowledge ahead of/affecting the market their edge.

It’s time to return to the “limited government” of our Constitution. Or not and thus ignore the truth of Bastiat’s “The Law” (1849): “It is easy to understand why the law is used by the legislator to destroy in varying degrees among the rest of the people … their property by plunder. This is done for the benefit of the person who makes the law, and in proportion to the power that he holds.”

PETE BRADY

Bainbridge Island