Similarities Between Socialism And Capitalism

Socialism is the underlying motivation behind communist movements in history. Socialists believe that it is unjust for a small amount of people to own the biggest portion of the wealth in society. This idea lead to the concept of a communist society, in which the existence of private property is eliminated in favor of government-owned property being shared among all it’s people. The government would provide jobs and care for all people equally. The idea was that through communism, there would be no social classes, thus eliminating alienation for any of the people in the society.

Socialism and capitalism are two concepts that are used by governments in respective countries regarding how the economies operate. The two concepts are based on political, economic and social systems. The United States of America is an example of a capitalist country while Sweden is a socialist nation. Apart from the similarity in which the government plays a role in the effectiveness of the two systems, there is no discrimination in both systems regarding race, color or other arbitrary classification. There are notable differences between the two systems based on ownership structure, equity, and employment.

A Capitalist Economy vs Socialist Economy There are a variety of economic systems today, which can influence how prosperous we will be as individuals or as a group. Socialism is an economic system where the government will be greatly involved in the economy. In a socialist economy the government can control many industries, provide public institutions such as health care and education, and equalize incomes of the population. A socialist economy is one of low unemployment and stability, where the government sets production quotas and price regulation upon their perception of the needs of the economy.

Capitalism is the best economic system for any country because it allows individuals to make their own business decisions, and be self-motivated, it confines the authority owned by the government. Capitalist countries are more technologically advanced and better educated as compared to socialist countries. Capitalism is different from socialism in many respects.

There is a vast difference between the economic systems of capitalism and socialism. While both are ways to govern a country’s market, they vary tremendously when looked at in depth. Capitalism is more effective and it encourages business growth and economic risk.

Although socialism may have better benefits, capitalism has it perks as well. Such as producers and consumers being able to own their own business. The upside of this is that no one other than the government can take the business away from the owner. This results in more rights for the owner. An example of improved rights of the owner could include the owner making their own regulations, deciding wages for employees, choosing how to insure their business, etc. Now the big picture that this focuses greater upon is that it greatly promotes self-interest, rather than government control.

     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.

Socialism allows the government to regulate all aspects of production, sales, and wages. Socialism is used to benefit the people as a whole, not as individuals. Economic equalization eliminates income inequality by lessening income extremes by creating a collective mentality among the people. Implementing socialism protects the middle and lower classes from poverty and prevents the wealthy from accruing too much power by creating shared responsibilities, social programs, and incomes; its unseen flaw is limiting the aspirations of society (Socialism UXL). In a traditional capitalist economy, wealthy elites hold political power; the elimination of economic elitists voids political elitists. Opposers argue that socialism isn’t fair. Wealth is equally distributed among the people due to government interference, despite the amount of work or career aptitude. Unlike capitalism, motivation is not a factor when there is not a direct relationship between work and outcome. Consequently, socialism clashes with natural human behavior. The lack of incentives leads to _______. Socialism is an ideology that fails through

As mentions before socialism is the doctrine that espouses public ownership or control of a major means of production. It aims to achieve an equitable and efficient distribution of social goods and greater economic planning then exist under capitalism. Although the central concerns of socialism appears to be economic its ramifications extend to the moral, social and political realms, in fact together with nationalism, it is the leading ideological and political movement of the 20th century.

For more than a century capitalism and socialism have been contending to be the best economic system. Socialism is a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. Capitalism is an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry that is controlled by private owners for profit. Capitalism is the heart and soul of America 's economy. A capitalist economy can take a person from rags to riches or from riches to rags depending on the path that is taken by one’s free will. This concept has made many American citizens wonder if the capitalist path the path worth taking. There have been radicals throughout the history of the U.S. who were not satisfied by the capitalist system as well as its ideals. One of those radicals, Huey Long, a Democratic populist who was a senator of Louisiana from 1932-1935, gave a speech entitled “Share Our Wealth” on February 23, 1934. The speech supported the ideals of socialism by suggesting equal distribution of wealth throughout the nation. Socialism may have its perks but capitalism is the best path to take since capitalism provides society with more benefits through economic competition, prosperity, and a moral system that promotes self interest.

With the creation of Socialism it consequently brought social and political problems. With economic control you also get political control which is usually abused by many socialist countries and even capitalist countries similarly. Many of these social problems are created by the government but yet the government tries to pass off these problems as incentive for people to work harder. Paul Mashegoane, the president of the organization Generation Ultimate which is devoted to changing governments and corporations internationally says that “The problem comes when making profit, you create a social problem like air and water pollution, health problems from working in industrial and mining companies, then come back and act as if you are making the people a favor by addressing those problems for free.” (Mashegoane). In a socialist state the people are forced to work because if they do not they cannot provide for themselves or the their family. This could also be said about capitalism, where you must work or you cannot make it anywhere, but in many capitalist countries there are usually programs that help people that are struggling,such as welfare. Socialism also promotes the use of censorship to contain the population within the country. If you look at

Accordingly, one idea or fact that is often raised to differentiate socialism from communism is that socialism in general is the political movement that refers to an economic system in that they believe that the state should be in charge of all important producing industries thus taking hold of the control of free market in order to promote economic parity and egalitarianism. Theoretically, socialism seeks to distribute wealth equally among its citizens in a way that the rich don’t take

Communism and socialism are two very important forms of government, both very similar. Communism is a socioeconomic policy, which advocates a classless society which controls all property and means of production. Communism is the total opposite of capitalism which is how the United States is ran. With communism there is no business competition so wealth can be distributed easily among all the people. The main part of communism is leadership. The leader of a communist government is required to be an authoritarian, single-party rule which results in the force to control opposition. (“Communism”). Socialism is very similar to communism it actually came before communism. Socialism is the set of beliefs based around the political, social, and economic

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

This essay will compare the economic principles of capitalism and communism by giving brief historical background on both and describing the two. I will begin with the father of economy, Adam Smith, and finish with the theories of Karl Marx.