Mr. Spaulding’s Nov. 24 commentary ("Socialism comes to Montpelier") warns his readers of the baleful influence of Lenin and Marx, albeit disguised as mere socialism. His plutocratic agenda is in danger.
The city housing committee, he warns, seeks an ordinance that would prevent rich investors from buying up residential housing for the purpose of short-term rental. This profitable activity would also increase housing scarcity yielding more profit by driving up the price of homes for resale. This socialist deprivation of capitalist opportunities, he writes, is shameful even though it might prevent the indigenous unhoused from leaving their freezing outdoor winter campsites, assist others to get and keep jobs, or mitigate the effects of the pandemic, inflation, or changes in the needs of employers. Oh, the horror! The rich are deprived of wealth just so the poor, displaced or economically marginalized can have a place to live.
