Capitalism Vs Socialism

Capitalism and socialism are both types of systems in different societies throughout the world that have been successful at times, but also not so fortunate in its' success at other times in history. Both have their good and bad points, although the main focus I am presenting will acknowledge socialism in better terms than the capitalist economy. This is to judge which system will be most prosperous, for the most amount of time, in the majority of people's lifetimes. Also, opinions from socialists are given to how they examine a capitalist society, and how capitalists examine a socialist society. Criticism is given in each one's point of view, along with defending arguments. Also, my personal opinion is the main conclusion to which economy is the most prosperous based on facts contributed in my own research on both capitalism and socialism. The definition for capitalism would be a form of social system that separates the economy from the state. Laissez faire is another name that was given by Scottish philosopher Adam Smith. He said it is better for a government to have no intervention in the economy at all. Capitalism is based upon private ownership of property and every person has the right to live his life in any manner he chooses, as long as he does not violate the rights of others. Individuals are allowed to run their own businesses in a free market in such way that he or she creates the wealth for him or her self. It usually depends on how self-motivated a person is to determine how wealth they will become. If a person is always working hard to make money, they most likely will, compared to a "bum" who can not get welfare in this type of system. Capitalists believe that the only purpose of a government is to protect its citizens from force or fraud. They claim that the force is the protection of individual's rights. This is achieved in such ways as the use of police force to protect the rights of citizens at home, a military to protect citizens from foreign attack, and a court system to enforce contracts and settle disputes between residents. Capitalists also feel that initiating force can only violate rights, thus the government only uses force in relation of those who initiate it. For instance, if an individual can not start his own electric company, it is a violation of his freedoms. A capitalist's argument towards this statement would be that the governments' legal monopoly on utility companies prevents people from starting their own electric company. In a capitalist society all people can start any kind of business they want. The protections of monopolies are not there. If a person wants to take the chance on their own company, even if it is next to one that is successful, the peril is in their "own hands." The only law capitalists clearly state, and one must follow is that members of society can not infringe on the rights of others. They give credence to holding individual rights as absolutes, and freedoms as absolutes. From a purely economic view, a capitalist is a person who buys in order to sell for profit. Socialism is quite different compared to capitalism, almost like an exact opposite. Instead of the ownership of private property, the government plays a large role where society owns social property such as banks and factories. Although, they own it through the government. Socialism is a society where the resources of the society, controlled by workers, are used for the benefit of the whole economy, not just the rich. The government does have control over production and economic activity, but the workers themselves decide what to produce, where to produce it, how much to produce, and how to distribute the product fairly for the benefit of everyone. Philosopher Karl Marx and his followers were convinced that sooner or later alternatives to capitalism would emerge because "it is already in the process of developing within a capitalist society and we must find a way to overcome the resistance of capitalists and their supporters to achieve socialism." The best definition for socialism is the equal distribution of society's goods to be achieved by the government. It focuses on positive freedoms such as everyone is entitled to the basic necessities: food, clothing, shelter, and a job. This is where the government steps in to help those who are needy and have rational reasons to why the government needs to give assistance to these people by providing programs such as welfare. The best point that can be said about the socialist system is that there are incentives to good workers, which makes them work harder to get these bonuses. The bonuses can be anything from cash, extra vacation, company parties, and prizes. The working class has the basic knowledge and principles they need to run the economy. Training is given where it is needed, and educational institutions have been refined so we have professionals in the fields where it is more important that the person has extensive knowledge in the subject. For example, doctors go to school for many years to learn all they can about the human body so that they will know what they are doing when it comes to the time they have to perform a surgery and make judgements on a real human being. For those who are working in a socialist economy the government has made laws all companies must follow that are also working class principles. All workers should be treated fairly and equally and this is what these laws were made to do, protect the working class. Minimum wage is set so all workers receive atleast this amount of pay, and then wages must go up according to their type of job. Also, good working conditions must be provided for safety reasons, no child labor, and no discrimination at the work place are a few laws that have been made. Capitalists and socialist disagree about certain ideas each group has and criticizes each other's ideas. First we will start with what capitalists think socialism is. They feel that man must sacrifice his own notions for the sake of the greater good in their economy. They feel that they must also sacrifice their individual mind, which denies them the sole means of survival for man and his nature as a rational being. Capitalists do not regard this system as an ideal. A capitalist' ideal accommodates one standard of life, man's life. The measure of a socialist system consists of the appraisal of, the relationships between men, and institutions that govern the forms of association. In defense to this, socialists say that the workers in a capitalist economy struggle against corporate greed. Working people should work together socially to produce all things together. Capitalists are different and take the wealth that they create to build more capital for himself. They feel as if there is a contradiction between social production and individual capitalist ownership. One capitalist deprives another capitalist of property