How is capitalism the cause of two of mankind’s oldest problems? People have been killing each other since their inception, not when capitalism took root, as Marshall Cole argued in his letter to the editor. (“Iraq war embodies capitalist abuses,” Jan. 10). Wars only took long enough for us to form groups and learn to make crude weapons.

How many wars have communist countries fought over the years? Russia and Germany invaded Poland to start conflict in World War II. Though they had different forms of government, they did it for the same reason, Poland’s natural resources.

Socialist countries are no different than capitalist countries when it comes to making war. The poor, and a few who think it is the right thing to do, do all the fighting, while a select few get most of the rewards.

Slavery has also been around since the earliest conception of society. Rather than blame capitalism for the widespread increase in slavery in the United States, as Nicolai Brown did in his column, (“An end to capitalism … an end to racism?” Jan. 10) it would be better to blame Eli Whitney. Capitalism had been in the United States since colonies had started to form and spread because it worked so well. It wasn’t until Whitney invented the cotton gin that growing cotton became really profitable and increased the demand for slaves.

How is socialism supposed to end racism? Yugoslavia was under communist control for about 50 years, yet when communist control stopped genocide broke out. This seems slightly worst to me than the Jim Crow laws.

Chris Ascherl

Junior

Mechanical Engineering