Travis Donaldson's letter "Government should stop move toward socialism," YourViews, Oct. 9) needs an extension to the personal consequences of our government's takeover of the economy.

When I taught literature, I extended analyses to social problems.

One problem originated in Dickens's depiction of the French Revolution, "A Tale of Two Cities." I joked that they must never reveal a familiarity with it. Why? Jacques-III, a psychopath that enjoyed the sight of heads falling from the guillotine. At novel's end, he lusted after the heads of his closest associates.

I inquired as to the number of J-3s who might reside within Normal, provided each was given the proper motive to unleash the beast within us all. Students went as high as five.

Now, assume Washington's total takeover of the economy, as in the bailout bill. In a flash, all citizens become criminals, since all citizens under socialism must follow - and the beast has been loosed.

Evidence: political correctness and lawyers intent on enforcement of same.

Example: "lookism" - a crime in which on some campuses a student can be persecuted for a frown that could be interpreted as racial animosity.

Assume attendant social unrest and the precipitous decline of production in every area of our economy. Who now enforces the law when there is none? Who now ensures that all thoughts are correct, not only in classrooms but in the workplace? Who snitches on his neighbor's hoarding of food or the suspicion that he has firearms secreted in his home, a structure which is now the peoples'?

Fantasy? When I taught, I said the same of political correctness. I predicted with 100 percent confidence that in a year the concept would be laughed into oblivion. I was wrong.

And Jacques-III? Anyone want to give our class a few numbers?

Peter A. Parmantie

Normal