Comparing Communism And Socialism

Two of the world’s most popular and diverse economic systems are Communism and Capitalism. Capitalism, or a free enterprise economy, is an economic system constructed by the freedoms of the marketplace. The capitalist economy has several promising advantages. The capitalist government subtly changes and adjusts to the current conditions with ease. A communist system can be defined as an economic system where many, if not all, factors of production are controlled and owned by the government.

Communism is an economic system developed by Karl Marx. Communism, also called Marxism, is an economic system used by

     Throughout history, there have been many systems developed in order to have a better society. Two of the most analyzed, and debated systems that have tired to change an economy for the best are communism, and capitalism. Communism, and capitalism have been compared on many levels, such as why they will or will not work, and which one works better. Throughout this essay I will concentrate on the differences, and similarities of how each operates, along with the benefits, and problems that each of them produces.

Nearly ten-thousand years ago the first recorded civilization emerged in the world. Between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, (Mesopotamia) lived the ancient Sumerian peoples. Since then, time has seen the creation and decimation of thousands of countries and economies. In this time, common political structures consisted of a powerful top down ruling where either pharaohs, dictators, or kings held all or most of the power. After ten-thousand years of trial and error, the American capitalistic system of the last several hundred years has propelled civilizations across the world in an increasingly exponential positive direction. The prowess of capitalism, as opposed to other systems like socialism and communism, can be proved through philosophy, psychology and history.

The distinction between reactionary socialism, conservative socialism, and critical-utopian socialism ranges from many different ideas. They consist of; the reactionary socialists who disagree with new and modern ways of running the government, the conservative socialists who lack the ability to see the hostility of social classes towards one another and believe that opportunities such as minimum wage and food stamps are a way to keep the working class in place, and the critical-utopian socialists who form a unrealistic vision of freeing the proletariat class by creating new laws and standards with no plan of action. Socialism is both similar and different when compared to communism. This is due to socialism’s means of productions being owned by the public while communism’s means of production is owned by the government. Socialism and communism are similar in the way that they both focus on equality between the social classes.

First of all Socialism is a system of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state. It mostly relies on governmental planning, preferably than the marketplace, to spread resources. Although it is possible for individuals living in a socialist country to own businesses or offer professional services directly to buyers, they are usually taxed heavily on their profits.

Karl Marx was a philosopher who brought attention to the idea of the idea of communism. He saw that the capitalist societies had a large gap between the rich and the poor, he also believed that this system

There are a variety of similarities and differences between Communism and Socialism. These two ideologies came from the same goal; however, they are considered to be very different in today’s world. Socialism and communism are alike because they both focus on equality for the people. They didn’t want rich people or poor people; they just wanted everyone to live happily and equally. However, would many people say that living in a communist country would make them “happy?” They both wanted to eliminate private ownership and believed that a variety of economic resources should be owned by the government and not privately. Under communism, each man would work according to their ability and receive according to their need. Also, there would be no

Capitalism started up as a system of investing and sharing money in order to increase the value of resources in the future. Capitalism was just an economic system, but then soon turned into a complex system of ethical practices. Harari defines capitalism as, “a set of teachings about how people should behave, educate their children and even think” (Harari 314). This economic system evolved along with the people that were endorsing it. Capitalism enables the rich to get richer, while the poor continue to get poorer. There are many benefits to capitalism, but there are downfalls as well, and these downfalls tend to be masked because of the rapid speed capitalists grow at. Harari first presents a definition for capitalism, and soon goes into great detail on why capitalism, while fast paced and unforgiving, is able to stand unwavered while other productions fail.

Throughout the world there are many different types of governments. The main ones that are well known are Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism. The United States has a government of Capitalism. “A way of organizing an economy so that the things that are used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) are owned by individual people and companies rather than by the government” (Merriam-Webster). Capitalism is a system that recognizes individual rights, and also property rights (Merriam-Webster). Socialism is another type of government, and its difference from Capitalism is that the government controls and owns the businesses. “A way of organizing a society in which major industries are owned and controlled by the

Marx argued that due to capitalism’s competitive nature, it would eventually die out and be replaced with a new form of government, communism. It is to Marx’s beliefs that change cannot simply occur through reforms or changes in government, rather a revolution in which the proletariat overthrow the bourgeois is necessary. Marx promoted the revolution, moving history towards its natural conclusion, through his ten proposals for a communist society. Among them include: a heavy progressive income tax, an exclusive monopoly of the banks under the state, transferring ownership of the modes of production to the state, a more equal distribution of the population over the country, and most importantly, the abolition of private property. Marx stated,” the theory of communists may be summed up in the single sentence: abolition of private property.” Marx acknowledged that this notion was radical and asserted that it is due in part to the liberal misconception that landowning is the fundamentals

In terms of business administration, Socialism strives for government intervention, attempting to achieve a degree of fairness; however, Capitalism strives for a “hands-off” approach, letting businesses decide their course according to market trends. Of course, there is also a well-defined correlation between the oversights over the two ideologies, for Socialism has usually been relatively authoritarian, trying to strike a balance for the general population; Capitalism, however, has usually been lax on the regulation of liberties, letting one decide for themselves their own fate. Finally, incentive has held a profound role, such as personal ownership. Socialism, with the main tenet of equality being strived for, has usually frowned upon unequal ownership. Nevertheless, Capitalism believes in just compensation to one’s work ethic. Different approaches with a common goal heavily distinguish these

The way in which societies have been run and the creed they were governed by has always been a hot topic of debate amongst all peoples of the world. Civilizations have argued for generations on how things should be run and which economic and societal systems work best. Time and time again, the citizens of these places would rise up in defiance when their government would take advantage of them. It seems most fair to say that the general desire of all people is for equality of opportunity. Capitalism is an economic and societal structure that most closely models this dream. However, Capitalism, in its most perfect form, is an insurmountable objective for a society and a business to achieve.

In seeking to highlight the key differences between socialism and capitalism, it would be prudent to first offer a concise definition of the two terms. Capitalism in the words of Brinkerhoff, White, Ortega, and Weitz (2007) "is the economic system in which most wealth (land, capital, and labor) is private property, to be used by its owners to maximize their own gain." As the authors in this case further point out, this particular economic system is largely founded on competition. Socialism on the other hand is defined as "an economic structure in which productive tools are owned and managed by the workers and used for the collective good" (Brinkerhoff et al., 2007). From the definitions, it is clear that unlike capitalism, socialism favors a situation whereby there is deliberate control as well as planning of economic activities on behalf of the entire community. In the case of capitalism, no attempt is made to have economic activities controlled from a central point on behalf of the community. Here, enterprises are allowed to compete in the supply of goods and services as they seek to rake in monetary returns. The key

The proper role of government is one that does not take total control and instead gives control to the people. There are several things that would make a government's role a proper one. Some of these things are the economic system, the way they treat their citizens and the basic quality of life in the country. Different governments run their countries in different ways and they change how well the country runs. The proper role of government is capitalism because it gives the most freedom to the people.