As a baby boomer, I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s. I spent 20 years riding ballistic missile submarines. Our foe then was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The key word in that title is “socialist.” The USSR was not a communist country — it was a socialist state. In such a state the central government owns everything, including its citizens.

One of the biggest tenets of that system was only one political party was allowed. If you are not well versed concerning the USSR, you should go and read about it, as that is what Putin wishes to rebuild.

At this time, in the U.S., we have basically the same one-party system. The problem with this type of government is only one voice (the state) is allowed to give an opinion, and anyone with other ideas is repressed. That is what we have seen as a large number of people have been deported from the U.S. for voicing concerns about the person in the White House. The number of people deported for such opinions increased significantly during the Obama administration. These deportations for political reasons have continued to grow enormously during the current socialist administration.

I suggest it might be appropriate to change the nation’s title from the USA to the USSR. Our current national political system is exactly what we saw in the USSR during the Cold War. This suggests the U.S. will fail in the next 10 years, like the USSR.

Bill Laffen

Umatilla