People who advocate “Medicare for all” are accused of being socialists. Maybe we should define the word. Socialism at its extreme is frequently described as a welfare state. But what do we call it when retired people get Social Security or Medicare, or farmers get agriculture payments? It seems to me that when I/we get these payments, we somehow deserve it, but when a poor person gets help, she/he is trying to get out of work. By denying benefits to needy people, it seems to me, we are going against biblical principles (Amos 2:7, 5:24, Micah 6:8, Jeremiah 22:3, Zechariah 7:9-10, Mark 11:33, Luke 11:42). Medicare for all has problems, but denying poor people the same services that I, a relatively wealthy American, can have is clearly wrong. I believe we already have a form of socialism. Can we share with those who really need it?

Milton Claassen, Newton, Kan.