What is a free enterprise system of government? It is one in which the private sector — individual citizens — drives the economic sector of the country by creating the businesses.
What is a socialist government system? It is one in which government owns or controls all businesses through excessive taxes within its boundaries.
Liberals have used the phrase, "You didn't build that" to say that an individual citizen did not build the businesses they own and conduct business under a business license purchased yearly from local government. With this license comes the rules in which a business must operate, and to not do so means a loss of your license, thus a loss of that business.
Government — federal, state or city — requires that a business collect a predetermined percentage of a sale. This tax is paid by the citizens that shop at that business, but the cost to manage that money to ensure it reaches government is on all businesses’ shoulders. Also, every business owner with property within the city limits must pay other taxes such as water runoff to government.
Now, to make my point, let’s apply the ideologies of the free enterprise system and the socialist system to Milton. How many properties along downtown Highway 90 are owned by city and county government? The courthouse, with the fountain parking lot across the street; the old Chevy dealership, which is now the Santa Rosa County Warehouse; the newer County Probation Office; the Public Defender's Office; the government offices (juvenile probation) located in the old Piggly Wiggly; and the lot out in front of it that was once a gas station. I am sure there are more in the downtown area.
… Now the city of Milton is not only in the water, sewer and garbage (no competition with mandated usage) business but now is in the marina business when it purchased the old River Run Marina on Broad Street.
When a private business goes public, it offers shares to the public to buy and then pays dividends to the share holders from its profits. Now, as I see it, the city taxpayer is the share holder and should get dividends from any profits, because if it goes bust, only the taxpayer bears the burden of the lost tax dollars.
So the taxpayer doesn't reap the benefits and assumes all the risk, which is a no-lose situation for government.
Now, if there are profits, that money is then rolled into the city budget and because "the city built this" that money is then used for higher government pay and retirement. In other words, for their own personal gain for holding public office, their own personal legal kickback system. They can't repave our downtown roads or fix the sewer system but they can accommodate a small number of boat owners with a taxpayer-paid-for marina and a wanted extended river walk to at least the River Run Marina.
In a true socialist country, it's the ruling elite of government that are the rich. The investors that have the money to gain government access help this situation and are also greatly rewarded.
The common working person normally finds themselves much worse off than what the working class of Americans are.
Yet, as socialism spreads among our free enterprise system, people don't understand why their wages are falling and job opportunities disappearing.
When government squeezes the private free enterprise sector and the common working person with higher taxes to fund these acts of government, the public sees it as waste; but when government continually owns more private property it's not waste, it's socialism.
Government ownership of property is the key to socialism. Government owns it; the taxpayer pays for it regardless of profits.
STEVEN M. KING
Milton
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: LETTER: Welcome to your socialist hometown