1. COMMUNISM, SOCIALISM & CAPITALISM . NOVEMBER 2016

2. Why do we have economics (and economic philosophies)?
BECAUSE SCARCITY EXISTS!
Scarcity = unlimited wants but limited resources

3. One philosophy: CAPITALISM (in a nutshell)
PRIVATE PROPERTY
INDIVIDUAL OWNERSHIP
FREE COMPETITION
PROFIT MOTIVE 3

4. MARXISM (communism) Welcome to my “ism.” Danke. Yo soy Karl Marx. 4
FYI: Marxism v. Communism -
Danke. Yo soy Karl Marx.
Welcome to my “ism.” 4

5. What was happening in Europe in the 1800s?
This is how Marx viewed industrialization 5

6. Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels
Mid 19th century
Deustchland philosophers
Engels: The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845)
(It’s bad!)
Engels’ book on working class: Showed things like higher death rates (both adult & child), low wages, etc.
Marx: Das Kapital (1867, 1885, 1894)
Marx & Engels:
The Communist Manifesto (1848)

7. WHAT DID MARX BELIEVE ABOUT THE PAST?
Negative view…society was progressing. (Linear view of history) 7

8. Marx on History
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of ______ struggle.”
CLASS

9. Marx’s View of the Stages of History
How many classes have existed in each stage of human history?
Was socialism seen as an improvement over capitalism?
Did Marx believe society was progressing?
Optimistic/utopian vision
(Turner, Beeghley, and Powers 1998:116) 9

10. SOCIALISM NAME A ‘CAPITALIST’ COUNTRY. IN WHAT WAYS IS IT SOCIALIST?
Many different forms (hard to easily define)
Could be worker-managed/owned, government-managed/owned
NOT private ownership
Viewed as temporary stage by Marxists/Leninists
NAME A ‘CAPITALIST’ COUNTRY.
IN WHAT WAYS IS IT SOCIALIST?

11. COMMUNISM, SOCIALISM, CAPITALISM
There is no “pure” country
Most socialist country today?
North Korea
Most capitalist (‘economically free’) country?
Hong Kong (Singapore 2nd)
Source: Heritage Index of Economic Freedom Didn’t actually say “most capitalist”
Where do you think China fits?

12. How does modern China compare to Marx’s vision?
Watch the last 3.5 minutes of Khan Academy’s Communism vid
11:20)

13. China & Communism
“When the Chinese go to Africa, they aren’t taking communism. They are taking the market economy in one of its wildest forms. We are not talking about the expansionist communism of the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s any longer, anywhere in the world.”
Robert Service, Oxford Scholar & author of Comrades: A History of World Communism

14. COMMUNISM: THEORY V. PRACTICE (i. e. Marx’s vision v
COMMUNISM: THEORY V. PRACTICE (i.e. Marx’s vision v. USSR/China/DPRK/Cuba/etc.)
OWNERSHIP?
PLANNING/CONTROLLING THE ECONOMY?
ROLE OF GOVERNMENT?
How would capitalists answer each?

15. Is ________ good? FREEDOM? EQUALITY? UH-OH…We have a problem…
Even though both are appealing, it is really hard to have both. Capitalists love freedom, communists love equality
UH-OH…We have a problem…

16. A FEW IMPORTANT DATES IN COMMUNIST HISTORY
1848: Communist Manifesto
1917: Russia becomes 1st communist country
: Cold War between USA & USSR
1991—End of the USSR
October 1, 1949: China becomes PRC
Note: There is a decent chance the US wouldn’t have become involved in the Korean War in 1950 if China didn’t become communist in United Korea? Totally communist?

17. COMMUNIST COUNTRIES IN WORLD HISTORY (RED = STILL COMMUNIST)
Still at it!...
CHINA (Since Oct 1, 1949)
CUBA (Since 1961)
LAO PDR (Since 1975)
*NORTH KOREA (Since 1948)
VIETNAM(Since 1976)
DPRK has actually officially distanced itself from ‘communism.’ It officially follows ‘Juche’ (ideology of self-reliance) since 1972 instead of Marxism-Leninism —constitution amended, removing the few references to communism. But…the state owns most everything

18. COMMUNISM, SOCIALISM & CAPITALISM: . WRAPPING IT UP18

19. How does this quote relate to what we’ve studied?
“So long as the state exists there is no freedom. When there is freedom, there will be no state.” Vladimir Lenin, 1st leader of Communist Russia
Theory/practice; freedom/equality

20. True?

21. What might the opposite look like? (a more favorable view for each)

22. Just for fun: Understanding World Ideologies Through Two Cows
Fascism
 You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk.
Pure Communism
 You have two cows. Your neighbours help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.
Real World Communism
 You share two cows with your neighbours. You and your neighbours bicker about who has the most "ability" and who has the most "need". Meanwhile, no one works, no one gets any milk, and the cows drop dead of starvation.
Russian Communism
 You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk. You steal back as much milk as you can and sell it on the black market.
Totalitarianism
 You have two cows. The government takes them and denies they ever existed. Milk is banned. 22

23. Just for fun: Understanding World Ideologies Through Two Cows
Pure Democracy
 You have two cows. Your neighbours decide who gets the milk.
Representative Democracy
 You have two cows. Your neighbours pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.
British Democracy
 You have two cows. You feed them sheep's brains and they go mad. The government doesn't do anything.
Pure Anarchy
 You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbours try to take the cows and kill you.
Pure Capitalism
 You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.
Real World Capitalism
 You don't have any cows. The bank will not lend you money to buy cows, because you don't have any cows to put up as collateral. 23

24. Just for fun: Understanding World Ideologies Through Two Cows
Environmentalism
 You have two cows. The government bans you from milking or killing them.
Political Correctness
 You are associated with (the concept of "ownership" is a symbol of the phallo centric, war mongering, intolerant past) two differently - aged (but no less valuable to society) bovines of non-specified gender.
Surrealism
 You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons. 24

25. FINALLY: COMMUNISM, SOCIALISM, CAPITALISM
What would a ______________ (communist, socialist, capitalist) think about ______________?
Let’s figure it out!

26. Extra Slides

27. One way of looking at ideologies

28. One way of looking @ China

29. Misconceptions