The July 2 letter by Allan Peterson inspired me to improve my knowledge of the different forms of socialism. I discovered there are about six different forms; however, I will only talk about two.

Socialism is predicated on the idea that providing for the needs of all members of society will ultimately benefit the society. Whereas communism takes the idea further by eliminating individual ownership of any goods. Socialism of all types attempts to work within the established political order, unlike communism, fascism and authoritarianism, which occur by a violent overthrow. The bottom line that separates these two forms is founded in the fact that communism is a political system where socialism is an economic system. Socialist are all for getting the needs of society met. My research found it was the Father of the Communist movement, Karl Marx, not Joseph Stalin, who said, “The goal of socialism is communism.” Marx and his followers, Stalin and Lennon, were true communist, believing that the whole is more important that the individual parts.

Democratic Socialists hold that capitalism is inherently incompatible with what they hold to be democratic values of liberty, equality, and solidarity. Social democracy is supportive to reforms of capitalism. The Scandinavian countries are more a social democracy. They believe and practice market economy while providing social programs through heavy taxation. Even with heavy taxation, the Scandinavian countries are the happiest in the world.

If the above is true, then both Ms. Cortez and Sen. Sanders are more in line with Social Democrats instead of Democratic Socialist.

Both parties are undergoing changes. There are the “old school” Democrats and there are the more progressive Democrats, Ms. Cortez and Mr. Sanders fall into the latter group. I believe we will see more of these progressives enter the races as minorities, people of color and women take on the current political climate of predominantly white males.

I see the hard-line conservatives of my father’s era leaving the “Grand Old Party” like rats from a sinking ship, leaving those who are followers of Trump or who are aware of the fact that if they dare cross our president, he will tweet out something scathing that can and has sealed their future political fate.

Trump told us during an interview two years ago that he invented the term Fake News. He said he would use that term when a news program was critical of him or caught and exposed him in a lie. He has been true to his word. He shows his love of the non-critical Fox News by appointing the disgraced and fired co-president of Fox, Bill Shine, as his top communication aide. This move feels like one step closer to a state-controlled media. Calling the stations that dare disagree with him “fake” and “an abomination against our country” has the earmarks of a dictator. So yes, Mr. Peterson, I, too, fear the media but for different reasons.

Like you, Mr. Peterson, I fear we are becoming a ruder and less civil society. Therefore, I strongly suggest we all practice the following: when we speak, it needs to be the truth; when we discuss our differences, it needs to be with respect; when we talk to each other, we also need to be quiet and listen; and when we VOTE, it needs to be from an informed mind after we have researched the candidate and feel that person best represents our values and will uphold the Constitution of the United States of America.