Types+of+Economy

__**CCQ's on Capitalism, Communism, Socialism 11/4/10**__

- I don't understand where the origin of socialism came from or how it came to be. When in time has there been a point where people could look at each other and say "Everyone will get a share of everything, whether they earned it through effort or not." I do not despise it however; do not mistake that. I believe that the ideal of Socialism is an amazing ideal, an ideal that should be commended for. But, how such a pure and good intent was established, in any point of history, is just shocking to me. Under what circumstances did Socialism get established and on what terms? Did it progress through the decades or has it stayed the same? Is there any countries or nations that actually have a socialist society? I may be wrong, but I believe the Vatican, San Marino, and other small independent nations could support a socialist society IF and ONLY IF it is not dominated by a communist or capitalist society.

- Which came first : Socialism or Communism? My reasoning behind this question is that the ideal of Socialism and Communism isn't too far apart from each other; Communism only dictates that everyone has to earn their fair share and that everyone will get a fair share in its ideal. I do remember that Marxism was the "precursor" to communism and that the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 where the Tsar rule of Russia was overthrown was the "official" birth of communism, but how did Marx get his religious ideal from? Did anything influence his creation of Marxism? If so, what? I recall a passage of Marxism in which Marx stated himself that showing emotions were a sign of weakness and attachment was worthless. Was he as heartless as the night is black? Or was he an incredibly deep thinker who thought with a rational and real mind instead of a mind of dreamers? The ideal of Communism, much like Socialism, is almost virtually impossible to achieve. So as before, under what circumstances was communism created and why? My final question is why is communism always linked to dictatorship other than the obvious need of an all-powerful ruler? Is there any more insight to the issue at hand or is it just because communism has a mutual relationship with dictatorship?

- Capitalism, considering I grew up in a capitalist society my whole life, is probably the only one ideal that I can agree will work throughout the decades. Lasting already 200+ years, the U.S. developed its government and economy to be a capitalist democracy. My question, then, is why do people refer capitalism with democracy or republics like communism with dictatorships or tyrannies? It's just one concept that has been stumping me for quite and while now and I seem to not be able to find a clear or concise answer. Back to capitalism, the ideal, since it is based of Darwin's natural selection doctrine that has been proved fact time after countless time, is probably the one type of economy that I can't argue its origins from, but I will question its successes and failures. In a capitalist society, the government intervenes AS LITTLE as possible except in time of need. How is it then that there has been major catastrophes throughout U.S. history that could have been prevented if the government had just intervened? Is it because the people were unwilling to let change take over or some other underlying reason?

__**Examples of Capitalist, Communist, Socialist Societies 11/4/10**__

The Quakers were a socialist Christian sect whose origin came from Britain. They believed in the "want not, waste not" doctrine. Their views of egalitarian utopia, a place in where everyone got something despite effort put in, was easily defeated by capitalist society. Even though they still exist in places today, the Quakers were an utopian socialist society that did not succeed because of capitalist society that surrounded them.
 * Socialist - Quakers **

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The prime example of a communist society, and possibly the modern vanguards of communism, is Russia. Russia was turned to communism during WWII, after Marx introduced his philosphy of Marxism and when the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 removed the Tsar government of Russia for the communist dictatorship that exists today. The determination of the success or failure of a communist government like Russia is a question of proximity and degree. The ideal of communism, that everyone gets a fair share if they put in a fair share, is HIGHLY unrealistic. Too many factors in the world affect the ideal of communism in many ways; one way too many for that ideal to be realistic. To me, communism was a government bound to fail from the start. The only way communism can exist without total chaos or certain people taking advantage of others is to put one person in power, which is in essence a dictatorship. Anything that is a dictatorship CAN NOT last in the long run.
 * Communist - Russia **

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The prime example of a capitalist society, and has been since its birth, is the U.S.A. The capitalist democracy of the U.S. government dictated by the Constitution is everything that capitalism should be; the government interferes with the economy as little as possible unless in times of need and emergency and the economy is one in where the business best fit to survive do and those that aren't go bankrupt and close down. I feel that capitalism is both a success anf failure. In the U.S. government, capitalism is a success in that the nation has survived 200 years more up to now at the cost of having some major wars and emergencies happen throughout its history. However, the consequences that occured because of those major events and the government response to it in the most capitalistic way possible are failures per se. If you look at the Red Scare hysteria, the capitalist society literally broke down and cracked down on anything suspected of supporting the Big Red. If you were even considered to be a communist, you were taken down by government and society; you were the weakest link that was being removed from the chain.
 * Capitalist - United States of America **

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If I had to choose to live in any of the three societies, I would have to choose capitalism. Capitalist economies almost always promises one type of government to follow it; a democratic republic. For myself, I would rather live in a society in which I can move up and down the social ladder by playing my cards right and having my individual freedoms not suppressed from me than live in societies where I could be controlled or no society at all. The problems with communism is the ideal in which it was founded on is almost impossible to realize except in small populations. There is not one possible way the world full of billions of free, open-minded people will work together and put in the same effort to gain the same rewards/payments. Without being controlled, there would be no absolute insurance that equality will be throughout all communists; something that I resent. Much like communism, socialism only works in small societies where the resources are plentiful enough or the population is small enough to promise their ideal. In a world like Earth with limited resources and overpopulation per se, there is almost a guarenteed chance that chaos and mass havoc/hysteria will be more likely than a world-wide or even large scale socialist society to work and last.

__**Capitalism, Communism, Socialism : What are they and how do they differ?**__ **11/2/10**

Capitalism, communism, socialism; they are all just terms that have been defining governments and parts of society from as long as those terms have existed. However, besides being fancy terms, what did they actually mean? Capitalism is defined as so - any economy that follows the Darwinist idea of //survival of the fittest//. In capitalism, the government has the most minimal intervention in the free market and economy unless needed to (i.e. depressions, inflations, recessions etc.) where the businesses can run each other out of business, join together, or control sectors of the economy/market. In capitalism, everyone works for every individual dollar; there are no free rides. People of capitalism understand that life is not fair and that you can work up and down the social ladder; from wealthiest to poorest and vice-versa. Communism could be argued to be the opposite of capitalism - an economy based on the concept of "you put in your fair share, you get your fair share." Even though no country in the world is purely communist, the concept behind this economy is that the state controls the market and economy of the nation in that all the //resources and effort are shared by everyone who puts in the effort//. In communism, the belief is that everyone will be as equally rich as the other; there is no need to fight for each individual dollar. Lastly, there is socialism - an economy based on the concept that dictated as "you get a share regardless of contribution." A socialist economy can only occur successfully where there is an abundant supply of resources or the population is extremely small so that everyone //gets their share//. However, since socialism believes that everyone gets something whether they work or not, there is no thrive to work harder; no one is fighting for each dollar and no one is working together to get more for everyone.

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