Capitalism vs Socialism vs Communism
An essay on capitalism and socialism in an exam that I appeared prompted me to write on this topic. Normally Socialism and Communism are considered to be the same. However, there’s a very thin line of difference between the two in turn confusing most of the people. Here are the definitions of these 3 in layman’s language:
Capitalism - An economic system based on the “Survival of the fittest”.
Socialism – An economic system based on “You get your share no matter what your contribution is”.
Communism – An economic system based on “You put in your fair share, you get your fair share”.
What each of these terms mean to an economy can be described as follows:
CAPITALISM
This term was first coined by Karl Marx to describe a system in which small group of people own large amount of money, land, resources. It puts all the economy is the hands of wealthy business people with the only aim of maximizing profits. Such economies remain free of government intervention with all the policies being determined by private individuals. The result is monopoly, and a huge gap in the earnings among the employer class and the worker class. Though its very good for trades and industries to flourish, it can lead to worker exploitation and unethical business pratices. “Laissez-Faire” capitalism which means pure capitalism with no government intervention is said to have never existed in practice.
SOCIALISM
It is considered to be the transitional phase between the capitalism and communism. Thus, you would find all communists advocating for socialism because it lays the foundations for communism. It advocates an egalitarian society where everyone shares equal wealth and power. There is a considerable disagreement over how the distribution should take place. Hence, socialism can be said to be between extreme capitalism and extreme communism with it being nearer to communism.
Socialism is liberal. More people have say in how the economy works.
COMMUNISM
According to Karl Marx, this is the final stage towards development of egalitarian society. Here all the resources are state-owned and it determines its distribution based on the needs in an effort to bring about equality.
Communism is conservative. Fewer and fewer people have any say in how the economy works. By using state coercion to fulfill unmet demands, it restricts individual freedom. Communism necessarily takes the form of totalitarianism, or the tyranny of all over one since its upto the state to decide who gets what. Historically, communist societies have been characterized by the absolute rule of a revolutionary party leader, beneath whom everyone is equally subservient.
It becomes very difficult for such an economy to survive in a large population when it becomes difficult for equal distribution of resources.
One can safely say that its the mixed economy (a bit of all the forms of economies) that in today’s age serve most of the countries well (US minus recession being a prime example). China also with its centrally planned economy is moving towards market-oriented economy thus becoming a mixed economy.
The difference between socialism and capitalism? Under socialism, banks are first nationalized and then go bankrupt. In the capitalist system it appears to work the other way around.
Read more on Crunchreport.com.
And strangely enough, even Adam Smith, Keynes, Ricardo and other pro-capitalists predicted capitalism’s demise…! Here’s the link:
http://bigotblog.wordpress.com/2008/10/24/will-capitalism-end-the-post-capitalist-world/
You seem to be confusing the actual terms with the way they have been distorted by the capitalists and the communists throughout modern times. Capitalism is not about being “free of government intervention” and “policies being determined by private individuals”- quite the opposite actually (read “Profits Over People” by Chomsky for a full understanding on this topic). Socialism is not some kind of midpoint between capitalism and communism- actual advocates of socialism consider it to be an end in itself, not as a transition to anything. And it’s certainly not “liberal.” And your definition of communism only applies to State communism.
I would just advise you to start over and pay more attention to what the advocates of each position are actually saying.
I agree.. this article is not accurate.
The problem is, who decides what “your fair share” is? In capitalism, you decide your own fair share by how much you work. The compensation is equal to the effort.
In no way does compensation equal effort.
in capitalism people get what they get based on gifts, talents, hard work, and education.
-millions of people making millions of decisions based price
in socialism people get what they get based in large part by state intervention. more regulation. more oversight.
-fewer people making millions decisions based price and guilt and the desire for power.
in communism the government is all there is. the individual is nothing. does not exist.
-everything in the economy is centrally planned, very few make all the decisions
if you would like to learn something research conversations between margaret thatcher and gorbachev.
or check out Yeltin’s first speech to communist students in russia after his first visit to the united states…more specifically a houston grocery store.
more than that…search out someone who left the USSR and came to america. just ask them which is better for people.
#
in capitalism people get what they get based on gifts, talents, hard work, and education.
-millions of people making millions of decisions based price
::: This is true. But you can also add “inheritance, interest and investment (‘takes money to make more money’) nepotism and clannism (it’s ‘who you know’), luck, cutting corners, cheating people”, and a number of other factors- some of which necessitate some degree of regulation.
in socialism people get what they get based in large part by state intervention. more regulation. more oversight.
-fewer people making millions decisions based price and guilt and the desire for power.
:::You can also say that in socialism people get what they get based in *some* part by state intervention. some regulation. some oversight. ::
Pure capitalism leads to the economic equivalent of “Lord of the Flies”.
in communism the government is all there is. the individual is nothing. does not exist.
::Actually, it is *classes* that are not supposed to exist- not individuals. And socialism is an end in itself and not a ‘means to’ communism. :::
-everything in the economy is centrally planned, very few make all the decisions
if you would like to learn something research conversations between margaret thatcher and gorbachev.
or check out Yeltin’s first speech to communist students in russia after his first visit to the united states…more specifically a houston grocery store.
more than that…search out someone who left the USSR and came to america. just ask them which is better for people.
Reply
dumbass us is capitalism just an abs cued form of it