As a class we did an activity that showed us a representation of how capitalism, socialism, and communism works. At the start of class some of us were handed ten starbursts and some of us were handed three starbursts. The people who only got three starbursts were angry because the people who got ten starbursts did not earn them any more than they did. This shows how the lottery of birth comes into play and makes capitalism seem unfair to some. Once we were handed our original starbursts we were encouraged to play rock paper scissors to win and trade starbursts. There were no rules set up and our teacher did not step in even after we started to steal and cheat. This represents the idea of the “invisible hand”, in which the government does not step in and regulate the market, found in capitalism. After we had played the game for fifteen minutes our teacher stopped us and asked how many starbursts we all had. Those of us who worked hard and earned more felt good but those who had no candies left did not feel good about the game. Some were still angry because the people who started out with more starburst were able to become the most rich more easily. Our teacher then proceeded to collect all of our earnings and then redistribute them equally, so we all had three starbursts. This mocks how socialism works. The people who had no candy were relieved to get some back, and some were glad to all be even, but the majority of the class felt frustrated because they had worked for their starbursts only for the government (our teacher) to step in and give others what you have worked for. At this point we had the option to continue to play or keep our three starbursts. Many of us at this point did not want to continue to play the game and try to earn more. We did not have any competitive drive and greediness, but were happy with our three starbursts. We represented how communism would work. The only problem with communism is that there are always some people who will still strive to earn more. A handful of students in our class continued to play rock paper scissors. As seen through this activity there are many different theories about how the government should be run, and no one theory seems to be able to fulfill everyone's needs and wants.
Karl Marx believed that capitalism is not sufficient in helping the poor, but socialism and eventually communism are necessary to have a successful government that helps the poor. The wage gaps between rich and poor was too big and this was dividing the classes. Marx believed that the only way to help the poor was to create a classless society in which everyone is equal. Marx’s theory on how to accomplish this was called socialism. In socialism the government interferes and takes money from the poor and distributes it to the rich so that everyone's incomes are equal and no one has unfair advantages in life. Marx says that humans are not naturally greedy and are not naturally competitive in life. He says that because of this people will start to help each other out and will not try to make more than others or create different social classes. Marx calls this idea of a self helping classless society communism. Ideally communism would consist of an equal society in which there is no government. This society would help the poor and make it so there are no “poor”.
Adam Smith has a very different theory on how to help the poor. He believed that the best was to have a good economy and society was for the government to step away and let people have a free market that is not regulated. Smith called this theory “the invisible hand”. He thought thought that competition would force lenders to either lower their prices, increase their quality of their product, or sell a product in higher demand. As they try to compete with other people in the market people’s pay will start to become even and more equal. With room to compete and move up the poor will be able to make a living for themselves in this free market. Also with more people buying and selling products the economy will improve and both the consumer and producer will benefit. The producers will benefit because more people will be buying their product and they will be an equal competition to the sellers around them. The consumers will benefit because as owners are trying to sell their products and compete prices will get lower so buyers, especially the poor, can afford more. Smith calls this overarching idea where the government doesn’t step in and allows classes to be distinguished capitalism. Smith believes capitalism and “the invisible hand” are the answers to helping the poor.
So which theory is best? Some students in our class took part in a socratic seminar in which they discussed the two different theories and which was better. People were able to argue why both theories would be sufficient and insufficient. Ryan said that capitalism promotes a growing inequality between social classes, and the gap between the rich and the poor. He thinks that the government needs to step in. I agree with this because if you are rich it is easier to move up in class because you have more opportunities, but if you are working a mediocre job it is a very slow and hard process to improve in life. Molly agreed with this because she thought as workers lower in the corporation make more money the CEOs and higher up people in the company get even richer because their workers are making more for them. Another downside to capitalism that Julianne and Ryan touched upon is that sometimes the people that are born rich are allowed to be lazy and still end up with more money than the people who are motivated to earn more and have ambition. I also believe that it is unfair that people with more money can live an easier lifestyle and still make more than many others. Although I do not think capitalism is the right choice for government, I also agree with the points that many of my classmates made against socialism and communism. Kyle, April, and Molly all felt that socialism is very frustrating for the people who did earn their money and were not just born into it. They agreed that in the starburst game they worked hard to earn what they did and they felt that it was unfair for the government to take and redistributes what they had earned. This is a major flaw in socialism because some people spend their whole lives trying to improve themselves and then it is just taken away to give to the poor. Another point that Julianne added was that if socialism did occur then everyone’s ambition and purpose in life would be non existent. She said it would be a dystopian society. She thought that everyone has natural drive. I also believe everyone naturally wants to be more and different and I do not think the government has the right to diminish this purpose in society. In the end the majority of the class was able to settle on one theory of how the government could efficiently work. People agreed that the best solution would be to have a capitalist government with a mix of socialist ideas and rules. Troy said that this third alternative would be to enforce the “invisible hand” but put more restrictions and taxes on the rich, and most of my classmates agreed. I think this is the most efficient option. A free market promotes a more improved economy but the government needs to interfere a little to make some ground rules about trading and selling products. Socialism would help and come into play because although the rich and poor classes would remain the rich would be forced to help the poor, making an efficient society.
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