Student
Paper F992-6
Fall 1999, Section I
Reviewer Comments
Eternal Conflict
There will always be conflict between capitalists and socialists. Neither one (in the fanatic sense) excepts the ways of the other. When in truth neither one would truly work without the other. Capitalism and socialism have to both be fluent in a society to make the society work. All through the Cold War Americans were taught that socialism was evil and not to subscribe to any socialist beliefs. When in fact most of the "American way" was founded on socialist beliefs. Social Security, welfare, and equal opportunity are just a few. Capitalism offers more political freedom, so without it the government would have complete control of politics. As we look at today we have to realize that for there to be a working society there must be a relationship between the left and the right.
Looking at styles of government you will find that forms of Democracy
have been around since the 17th century. The whole point was
to bring political freedom to the people. Give the people the rights that had
been harbored away by monarchies. Constitutions were written stating the rights
of the people. Protection of freedoms was important. Freedom of religion,
freedom of speech, and freedom of political views were just some of the
freedoms that protection was needed for. The economy was very important since
monarchies had really been the only ones who were in charge of a nation's
economy. Interest arose in under standing the economy.' Adam Smith invented
capitalism he believed that capitalism was governed by natural law. Supply and
demand was his scientific theory. To
allow supply and demand to flourish there would have to be very little
intervention from the government. The people of the government would be allowed
to pursue there own self interest. Supply and demand is what makes capitalism
work. Economies thrive with this at work. Also with a constitution a democracy
has the rights of the citizens written down to allow clarity in communication
between citizens and the government. The main point of Democracy is that the people
have rights and the government must give them to the people. Capitalism goes
with democracy because it frees the economy from the government. Supply and
demand works it is a natural law when it is disturbed, that is when a
government has a loss of strength.
Capitalism has many strengths but it also has weaknesses. People who
were not educated and could not get decent jobs were forced to work in horrible
conditions. If that wasn't enough the salary was just enough to get by, maybe.
People who had no means to take care of them selves were just left to pursue
there own interest. Plus only white men had the vote, so they were really the
only voice in a government that was supposed to be for the people. Equal rights
was just not heard of. Women did not
have the same rights as men.2 Work conditions for women that worked
in coal mines were pure misery and they did not get compensated for there very
difficult jobs. Injustice was all that fell upon women who had to work. Equal
opportunity was prejudice against anyone who was not white or male or
protestant. So if you were a middle class white male your government was
working quite well for you.
Socialism would be heaven in an ideal sense. Everything would be equal.3
Karl Marx was against the middle class saying that they had too much
power and too much land. In doing this the worker was basically brought down to
slave level. The only way to fix this was for the worker to rise up against the
middle class and take over the government. When the workers had taken over
everything would change. There would not be any private property, it would all
be public. So know one would go homeless. One person, one vote everyone was
equal. Universal education, meaning if you had any kind of intelligence you
could go as far in school as you could. The government would be in complete
control of the economy so everyone would get the same amount of money and
prices would never fluctuate. No wars would be fought because everything would
be equal so why fight, no competition, no religion, and no private land.
Essentially everyone would be working to better society and in doing so would
work to better themselves.
Socialism in a real sense is hell. The people are controlled. The government controls every aspect of the people's lives. Government officials made everyone's salary the same. People had no choice were they wanted to live they were told were to live. If you were religious you could not practice because religion was outlawed. The Government held the people's lives in their hand. Socialist economies failed because there was no supply and demand. If a natural law is taken away some thing bad is going to happen. No political freedoms, meaning that whoever one political party. A society without choice, without freedom is not an advanced society. It is slavery.
There is no perfect form of government. Every type has it's devastating
problems and horrible consequences. The one that makes the most sense is a
slight mixture of both capitalism and socialism. People need to have rights,
freedoms that will be promised to be upheld by a government that they the
people are in charge of But from a socialist stand point there needs to be
organizations that look out for those who cannot help themselves. People need
religious freedoms, political freedoms, and a free economy to be a successful
society. People also need equal opportunity to be provided and protected by the
government. Universal education helps
1
Adam Smith, Wealth
of Nations http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/kelly/pew/LeftRight/LeftRight.htm
2 Women Miners in English Coal pits
http//www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/l842womenminers.html
3 Karl Marx, The Manifesto of the Communist
Party http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1840/com-man/ch02.htm
Bibliography
Smith, Adam
"Wealth Of Nations" http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/kelly/pew/LeftRight/LeftRight.htm
"Women Miners
in English Coal Mines" http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1842womenminers.html
Marx, Karl "The
Manifesto of the Communist Party" http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1840/com-man/ch02.htm