Communist Manifesto By Karl Marxism

Karl Marx is debatably one of the most influential figures in the way modern society and its economics have been shaped. With his book the Communist Manifesto, he indirectly caused hundreds of revolutions and civil wars that split countries into east and west. Tensions rose between the two powerhouses of the world, the USA and USSR as they contended for the top spot in the world’s economy with opposing economic systems. The USSR collapsed in 1991, marking the end of socialism’s brutal and unforgiving run as the dominant system of government and economics, but even today some Marxist ideals can be found in America with things such as the push for free healthcare and education along with significant expansion of government sponsored welfare programs.
A clear example of this can be seen when the leader of the Ivory Coast bet the leader of Ghana on whose nation would be more prosperous in twenty years. At the time Ghana had been under a government run economy while the Ivory Coast ran under a free market system. By the end of the twenty years the poorest 20% in the Ivory Coast were exponentially richer than their opposition, but eventually they swapped systems and as expected, Ghana surpassed the Ivory Coast. (Basic Economics, Sowell) Examples of this can be seen all over the world where countries switch to free market economies and discover that their people are enjoying a higher standard of living than when they were a socialist country. China has seen one of the highest economic growth rates in the world ever since its abandonment of the Mao Zedong’s system in 1979 and opening up to foreign trade and free markets. It has grown at an astounding 7.9% annually since then and has been one of the longest sustained periods of exponential growth the world has ever seen (CAS, China’s Economic Rise). Despite what people may say, free markets have done more for the betterment of mankind than the oppressive rule of
Many people argue that the United States should invest more resources into eradicating poverty which has been particularly bad with almost 13% of US citizens living below the poverty line (Center for Poverty Research UC Davis, What is the poverty rate… of the US?). The poverty line is defined as an individual person who makes under $11,500 a year. Many welfare programs were initially designed to help people out for a short time while they could find jobs and more sustainable income...a safety net of sorts. The only problem with this is that 38% of food stamp users have been on food stamps for three to four years. (Huffington Post, How Long… Public Benefits) The United States spends approximately 20% of its GDP on Social programs, good for 21st in the world, but its poverty rate is the 42nd worst out of all nations (Index Mundi). The problem with these welfare programs is that with scarce resources, in this case money, there will always be unmet needs. Thomas Sowell in Basic Economics summarizes this idea best at the end of chapter 2. “So let's go back to square one. If economics is the study of scarce resources which have alternative uses, then there will always be unmet needs.” Not every need can be met 100% and trying to do so is an inefficient practice that has driven the U.S. economy even further into