During the 19th and 20th centuries, many countries revolted against their previous leadership, and gained independence from their former rulers. A very popular form of government has been socialism. In this paper, I will examine the differences between socialism and capitalism. Socialism, by Merriam-Webster dictionary, is defined as “Any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.” Also, capitalism is defined as “an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that …show more content…
But, is this the case? Socialism has been experimented with myriad times, and it has failed miserably every time. A very recent example is Venezuela, a country rich with oil profits, who elected Hugo Chavez as their president in 1998 to institute socialism. Chavez came through on his promise of what he called “21st century socialism”. For quite a few years, Venezuela thrived, there were less poor than ever, more citizens with access to health care, and more profits from oil than ever before. Consequently, as the government began running out of rich people to tax, the economy launched into a decline, that then turned into the Venezuela we see today, with headlines like this “Venezuelans lose weight as food shortages worsen.” Meanwhile, in capitalist US, we have problems with eating too much food, and see headlines saying “Percentage of Overweight, Obese Americans Swells - WebMD.” We also spend on average thousands of dollars in entertainment every year. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American in 2016 spent over three thousand dollars on entertainment. The normal pleasures we enjoy in the USA would be considered luxuries in most socialist
Socialism is a word that has obtained a bad connotation in American society. Politicians are loath to lay claim to it, and often using it to lambast their political opponents with it. Yes in many ways America has seemed to embrace the economic benefits of Capitalism so whole heartedly, thoughts of a tangled bureaucratic mess of welfare and wealth distribution that is so contrary to the American idea of individualism are conjured up at the mere thought of Socialism. In fact many still equate Socialism with Communism and are given to thoughts of the Cold War, and the battle of ideologies that it entailed. Many Americans would perhaps be quite surprised to learn that Socialism had found a place in American society at one time, and that it held a considerable amount of influence over the direction the country would take.
Since the 1970s, Venezuela has gone from being South America’s richest nation into a nouveau-poor society in search of an identity. Once known as the Saudis of the West, Venezuelans have seen their economic fortunes decline in exact proportion to the general fall in world oil prices. Even so, Venezuela’s many problems were hidden from view until relatively recently, when severity measures heralded the sort of economic crises so painfully familiar to other Latin American countries. Runaway inflation, currency devaluations and even food riots have marked this new phase in Venezuelan history, to which the country is still trying to adjust.
According to Mastrianna &Hailstones book, Basic Economics, "Socialism involves strict government regulation of production and distribution and is advocated as a way to promote equality and economic development." ... ... middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Malpass, Michael Andrew. Daily Life in the Inca Empire.
Capitalism is what made our country strong, and it needs to be protected from its enemies. The study of capitalism reveals that this type of system inspires creative thinking and rewards successful innovation financially. This drives the economy forward in an excellent way. In his article, Arthur Brooks makes a strong argument which validates the need for free enterprise to remain unrestricted, and free to execute business unfettered (Brooks 545). He points to the intentions of our government, in its infancy, by quoting Thomas Jefferson, in regard to our economic system. Jefferson said at his first inaugural address "A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of bread it has earned" (qtd. in Brooks 545). In contrast, socialism is a system that advocates the control of production and distribution, of capital, and land. Socialism is more closely related to a command system, such as communism, than it is to capitalism. Communism distributes wealth equally to all. Robin hood is a fascinating tale that can be a demonstration of communism. Take from the rich and give it to the poor. Most people do not consider themselves to be wealthy. That is because it is human nature to alway...
Two primary theories emerged -- socialism and capitalism. Socialism is a system that has the means of production, distribution, and exchange owned and regulated by the public and capitalism is a system that has a country’s trade and industry controlled by private owners for profit. Another theory similar to capitalism, laissez faire, is an economic system where transactions between companies are free from government taxes and subsidies. The test of time has not been kind to socialist ideals, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the Soviet Union, fell after the Cold War against the United States, a war where capitalism was put against socialism. On the other hand, the United States, where the free market prevails, has been the world’s richest country and home of the world’s largest economy (by nominal GDP) for over a century. These different economic and political ideals were layered on top of a country’s utilization of industry and dramatically affected the economic result of a country’s transition to
Hugo Chavez was a powerful and positive force in addressing social issues, however, his singular focus on social issues at the expense of other matters of the country left the Venezuelan economy in tatters. In 1998, 50.4% of the Venezuelan population was living below the poverty line, where as in 2006 the numbers dropped to 36.3% (Chavez leaves). Although he aggressively confronted the issue of poverty in Venezuela, many other problems were worsened. Some Chavez critics say he used the state oil company like a piggy bank for projects: funding homes, and healthcare while neglecting oil infrastructure and production. Without growth in the oil ind...
As a result, with the passing of the years Chavez created an atmosphere of division, violence and unrest within the population. Thus, created a marked difference between the supporters and opponents of his policies, a situation that President Hugo Chavez took advantage of for his own purposes, deploying a communist regime disguised as a socialist. In other words, Chavez tricked Venezuela’s people, offering the establishment of a socialism that was nothing more than a dictatorship adapted to their own purposes, becoming the most recognized leader of the left worldwide. Throughout the fourteen years that he remained in power, Chávez followed a strategy of introducing a socialist government in Venezuela in stages. According to Enrique Standish in the article titled “Venezuela Finally Turns Communist” it happened in four stages.
Socialism is a way of controlling the economy, in which the government owns and runs all of the businesses of a society. Socialism can be broken up into two different categories: Utopian Socialism and Scientific Socialism. These two types have some similar views, but also are very different in certain ways. For example, Utopian Society is basically a peaceful way to get what you want whereas Scientific Socialism, which was what Karl Marx represented, held the belief that the only way to get what you want is through revolution. These views of socialism held the total opposite views of a man named Adam Smith, who believed in capitalism, and who wrote the book, The Wealth of Nations.
“Socialism.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 30 Jan. 2012. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2 Feb. 2012. .
Both Capitalism and Socialism want the same thing but have different ideas on how to obtain it. That thing is a strong and prosperous country filled with happy and hard-working people. Although the goal is the same the approach is different just like how different people come up with their own ideas on how to solve the
Socialism: a political theory of social organizations that have to follow the means of that production, distribution, and exchange should be managed by the community al together.
“An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by the free people for profit, rather than by the state.”.Although modern economists state that capitalism is “the most successful economic system that has existed thus far”, there are multiple political systems by which other countries are governed. Socialism and Communism are both political and economic systems that govern and have been utilized by countries such as Vietnam, North Korea, the Soviet Union, Cuba and China. Although the United States has been at peace with many Socialist countries, it has fought long and hard against Communist states. Communism is the economic, political, and social system that was formed based on the idea of “the common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes, money, and the state. In communist countries the free people are all equal in class due to the lack of social classes and money. Yet the government officials are above the free people because they are the ones monitoring and controlling the people and developing new laws. This reveals the paradox with the communist ideology of there being a lack of social classes when the government in these countries tend to be a separate social class within itself as they control the free people. Like George Orwell says in his critical novel Animal Farm which addressed the many problems that stem from communism, “all animals are created equal but some are more equal than other.” In contrast, the United States is a governing state that was erected based on the idea that every person has the right to “Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness,” and by there being parameters and restrictions put on the free people, the United States begins losing its status as a Capitalist country. If the government continues to interfere with the free market system, the United States will slowly shift
This is why their taxes are so high because the money goes to colleges, the community, people in need, and the government so they can improve the country. Socialism is meant to create a fair opportunity across the board in society, meaning there is no distinction between classes much like communism. For example, in capitalist countries like America higher education is expensive, so those born into a higher status have a better chance of attending college and in the end are given better opportunities; in socialist countries like Finland everyone has an opportunity to attend college. The downside to all of this is it can promote laziness, taxes are extremely high, and government has a lot of control. If someone decided not to work, the taxes paid by other people would help them out and that just is not fair to those who work to pay their taxes. With the amount of control the government has, it does not give the citizen’s many options when it comes to commodities. Meaning the citizens would rather collectively own and control property as a whole community. Through history socialism has shown that it is based more on a theory because it isn’t a realistic system, it needs rational practice to go with it like
If one looks at liberty and individual freedom, it is evident that command economies tend to oppress their citizens. Therefore, socialism, which allows for basic needs to be met and personal freedoms to be upheld, is the best economic system for all of a country’s citizens. Market economies, as a whole, inherently and inevitably lead to poverty and a large class disparity. In a capitalist society, the ones who supply labor, the ones who work the hardest, are the ones who are paid the least. The owners, who are already rich, receive most of the profit and accumulate large masses of wealth.
Socialism can be defined as an economy wherein all the resources and the means of production of the economy are owned by the community as a whole and there is an equitable distribution of the goods and the wealth. According to Socialism, people of the economy do not live or work in isolation, but they live as a whole in cooperation. In a Socialist form of system, the goods and services are provided through a central system of government ownership and not private ownership. Everything that is being produced by the people in a Socialist system is a social product and, hence, every individual who contributes in the production of goods is entitled to a share of it. Therefore, based on how much a person has contributed in the society, everyone receives