Communism & Capitalism
What is capitalism? Economic system. Believes in individual ownership and competition. The theory is that when everyone is selfish, it benefits everyone. Adam Smith is “the” capitalist.
What’s good about capitalism? Freedom, choice. You can work wherever, buy whatever, and pretty much do whatever. If you’re successful, you can be very successful. Think Bill Gates.
What’s bad about capitalism? No “safety net.” If you’re unsuccessful, you can be very unsuccessful. Think about the poor. Big gap between rich and poor.
What is communism? Economic system. Believes in collective (group) ownership and a planned economy. The theory is that everybody pools their resources and labor to evenly distribute everything. Karl Marx is “the” communist.
Communist Manifesto Abolition of property Heavy, progressive taxes Abolition of inheritance Confiscation of property of all emigrants and rebels Central banking State-controlled communication and transportation State-controlled education of the children
Marxism They believed they discovered an inevitable pattern Marx and Engels studied the history of the world’s economies Communism!!!! Socialism Capitalism They believed they discovered an inevitable pattern Feudalism Basic Communism
Stage 1: Primitive Communism This is how humans lived together before the emergence of large-scale agriculture. Small hunting and gathering tribes Everything was shared amongst the tribe-food, jobs, belongings. No one owned land and no one is exploited for their labor. Eventually one group comes to power which leads to Feudalism…
Stage 2: Primitive Communism - Feudalism Under feudalism, a king becomes ruler over all the people. Exploitation begins. The people are kept uneducated and told that god chose the king to rule. (?) The king gives land and privileges to nobles who rule the people for him (?) As trade develops, some people get richer. This leads to Capitalism…
Stage 3: Feudalism - Capitalism Business owners or capitalists get richer while the workers do the work. Capitalists get more power to serve their own interests. Capitalism creates a large working-class of people who organize, create unions, and demand changes. This leads to Socialism…
Stage 4: Capitalism-Socialism In the Socialist revolution all the rulers lose power, wealth, and privilege. Workers take control of the country to produce things for everyone. No one is exploited. Nothing is made for profit therefore all people benefit. These ideas spread across the world to create Communism…
Stage 5: Socialism-Communism Capitalists will put up a fight but the will of the people will always win. Everyone now works together, war eliminated, and armies are obsolete. Everything is provided by the people so $ becomes a thing of the past. All human activity goes towards benefiting each other-allowing all to live their lives to the fullest.
Communism/Socialism: What’s the difference? Socialism is, “from each according to their ability, to each according to their DEEDS.” Socialism is the stage between Capitalism and Communism. It builds upon the previous system (Capitalism) by nationalizing the “means of production” (i.e. corporations, resources, banks, etc.), but not by making everyone equal. People are paid wages based on several factors (social need, difficulty, amount of schooling required, etc.), so not everyone will make the same wage. Communism is “from each according to their ability to each according to their NEEDS.”
What’s good about communism? Security, basic needs met. Everyone would have a job, house, health care, etc.
What’s bad about communism? Lack of choice No reward for being a better worker or punishment for being a slacker. Everyone expected to be the same.
How’s this related to the IndRev? Adam Smith’s capitalism dominated the IndRev. Led to bad working conditions. Karl Marx wrote about communism as solution to capitalism’s problems. Marx said the workers would get fed up and overthrow their governments and start communism.