Left alone, system works very well

We are all created equal. We all have the same right to occupy space on this planet. If you are fortunate enough to be born in America, these rights are expanded. For the sake of discussion we can call this the right to pursue happiness, whatever that might be for each individual.

As time passes, a born-free individual is exposed to many elements and unfortunately learns about all the different groups that we somehow have decided to label people with. Some groups might have a harder time excelling in their chosen field than others, but the fact remains that they have the right in this country to rise up as high as they want. Success and contentment are measured in different ways by different people, but whatever it means to you, it is achievable here.

This system has worked for years and was the founders' original idea. Look at all the great things that have come from this country, all based on someone or some organization's ability to pursue these ideas unencumbered.

A big part of our founders' thinking also was to limit government so as to not get in the way of progress by over-regulation. Take a look at some government bureaucracies (U.S. Postal Service, the DMV or tollway system) and ask yourself if this is who you want running health care in this country.

I am amazed when I hear Democratic candidates talking about socialized medicine, especially when they talk about it as if it were free. Ask someone from Canada or the United Kingdom what kind of taxes they pay or what they pay for gasoline. It isn't free; in fact it is far from it.

These same candidates often talk about socialistic ideas: national health care, redistribution of wealth, taking oil companies' profits for research and so on. Have they not learned anything over the last several decades? Did they not see the fall of the Soviet Union?

Our system works, and anyone willing to work at it can fully benefit from it.

Marc Thomsen

Elk Grove Village