For all I know, Corey Sheahan is a great guy. His response to Ben Daniels' column, "America needs socialist values," however, was entirely counterproductive to social change and at best represented an amoral and complacent opinion of our current society. At worst, it obscured real issues by using mainstream garble to distract and confuse.

To claim that our economy is democratic because I cast a vote every time I buy a Gatorade is negating the fact that Bill Gates has 50 billion more votes than I have. A simple understanding of political science would reveal that this is no democracy, and to claim that this is "far more democratic" than a truly democratically-organized economy is laughable and entirely wrong.

If Sheahan wants to discuss inefficiencies in different social relations, it's worth noting that capitalism has created one of the most wasteful systems the world has ever known. Hunger amid excess is the most damning example of this. The destruction of food to keep food prices high, billions of dollars spent on wars, immense profligacy in our private health system, product duplication, nurturing hyper garbage production and a tendency toward oligarchy are a couple of topics that need serious consideration for Sheahan's arguments to not ring hollow.

When 39 million Americans live below the poverty line (a pittance of an income to begin with) and 47 million Americans do not even have basic health coverage despite enormous leaps in productive capacity during the past 50 years, some mainstream concepts need reconsideration. Questions need to be asked. It's these questions that lead to interest in alternatives. And in our constant sifting and winnowing, one of these alternatives is democratic socialism.

Nathan Fuller
Senior, Geological Engineering