LETTER: To tea party friends

I have many friends who think of themselves as tea party types — small government, low taxes, defenders of Second Amendment rights. It seems so natural to think that freedom means freedom from government. But I have to ask my friends a question: Do you think government is the only organization that can take away your freedom?

We hear the phrase “European Style Socialism” thrown around by many Republicans. This phrase is spoken with disdain for a type of governance that values “sharing the wealth.” Do my tea party friends think that all wealth is legitimately acquired through hard work by the individuals who have it?

Do you know what a “European Style Aristocracy” is? Aristocracy is ruled by a wealthy, privileged class. Do my tea party friends understand that the American Revolution was a revolution against European Style Aristocracy?

What do you think Mitt Romney represents? He was born into wealth and privilege. He acquired additional wealth through the manipulation of stock values and the dismantling and selling off of companies built by others. Much of this wealth is held outside the country. What is Mitt Romney if he is not a European Style Aristocrat?

To support Mitt Romney is to support the form of government our Founding Fathers revolted against. This would be a huge mistake for my freedom-loving friends.

Under the current administration taxes are low for those whose incomes are low. Why? They are low because this group is already paying 100 percent of their income into the economic structure. After the rent or mortgage is paid (to the bank or the landlord), after the utility bills are paid (to power and phone companies), after the food is bought (farmers, grocers and distributors), and after the gas tank is filled (oil companies), there really isn’t anything left for taxes. You cannot get blood from a rock. But this is exactly where our Republican friends want the money to come from for their European Style Aristocracy. Wake up. This was the condition that precipitated our Revolution.

I am a Democrat. I also believe in the Second Amendment. You can have as many guns as you like as far as I am concerned. This administration is interested only in how you use them, not in whether you have them. Generally speaking, problems arise only in the difference between hunting animals and hunting humans. Hunting animals? — OK. Hunting humans? — Not OK. Used for self-defense? — OK. Used to murder? — Not OK. Most people have this one figured out.

Sharing the wealth is good. It’s really a rather Christian thing to do. It makes for healthy customers. Healthy customers are the true “job creators” because they buy stuff. Businesses thrive when customers buy stuff. Duh.

Don’t throw away American Democracy for the Old World Aristocracy we fought so hard to defeat.

STEPHEN D. BRUNO

Hayden