To the editor:

A number of years ago, (when I could no longer deny the wreckage that my excessive behaviors were causing in my life), I received a bit of wisdom. A wise man told me that I didn’t necessarily need to replace everything in my life, but I certainly needed to find a healthier balance.

In my opinion, and that of the nonpartisan, historically respected Congressional Budget Office, economic wealth in our country is out of balance. The present lack of regulations and little government oversight favor the wealthiest in our country (with the situation growing worse). Over the last 30 years, after-tax income rose 275 percent for the top 1 percent of Americans. In comparison, the same income for the bottom 20 percent of citizens rose 18 percent. This is wrong and out of balance. 

With passage of the heinous “Citizens United” ruling by the Supreme Court, the 1 percent (and the corporations they own) are flooding our election system with HUGE amounts of money to elect conservatives into the legislatures and judiciary at both the state and federal level. This is wrong and out of balance.

History doesn’t show many examples of successful, purely socialistic states in the modern world. I’m not advocating a swing to pure socialism, but world history has too many examples (many happening today) where the economic aristocracy lord it over the economic peasants. I’m opposed to that happening anywhere, but especially so in MY country. We are better than this.