Socialism and Capitalism

Socialism and Capitalism-Which is the Answer?

In the last century, socialism has been instituted in many countries such as, China, North Korea, the Soviet Union, Cuba, and many other Latin American, South American, and African countries. Socialism has failed in every case to change human nature for the better. Although no single economic system is perfect, we can still choose one that is more compatible with our world today. The two most popular economic systems are; Capitalism and Socialism. Capitalism is an economic system in which all or most of the means of production and distribution are privately owned and operated for profit. Socialism is an economic system in which the ownership and operation of the means of production and distribution are controlled by the government. In Marxist thinking, socialism is the transitional phase between capitalism and communism.

The ultimate vision for capitalism is a world where people work competitively with one another to provide better products and better services. It is a world where each and every person has a chance to decide what he or she will do with his or her life, and how much they will accomplish. The alternative is socialism. Robert Sheaffer says "...The history of socialism is a sorry tale of economic failure and crimes against humanity." Socialism due to human nature will never work. We cannot survive with a community of mutual cooperation and sharing of work. China, North Korea, the Soviet Union, and Cuba are all countries that started socialistic and now are communistic; they are all examples of what America could become.

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student, but had once failed and entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan." All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A. After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the third test rolled around, the average was an F. The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise. The professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when the Government removes the reward, no one will try or want to succeed.

Capitalism and socialism have their high and low points, but in the end capitalism is by far the better and more effective way to run an economy. It is impossible not to notice that some of the most powerful countries in the world have capitalistic economies and that through this they thrive and prosper. Capitalism is a better economic system because it allows us to make our own decisions and to do well because we are self-motivated, if we work hard enough, there is no limitation on what we can accomplish.