Economic & Social Ideologies: Capitalism

Capitalism usually refers to an economic & social ideology “in which investment in & ownership of the means of production, distribution, & exchange of wealth is made & maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations.” In other words, you earned it, you keep it. “Labor, goods, & capital are traded in a market; profits are distributed to owners or invested in new technologies & industries; & wages are paid to labor.”

“Economists usually put emphasis on the market mechanism, degree of government control over markets (laissez faire), & property rights, while most political economists emphasize private property, power relations, wage labor, & class.”

Support:

• Economic growth: increase in GDP (Gross Domestic Product), improved standards of living (better availability of food, housing, clothing, & health care), decreased number of elderly & children in the work force & a decreased number of hours worked per week, increased opportunities for people to rise above their current conditions
• Political freedom: “transactions in a market economy are voluntary, & the wide diversity that voluntary activity permits is a fundamental threat to repressive political leaders & greatly diminish power to coerce.”
• Self-organization: Friedrich Hayek described self-organization thusly, “From transactions between buyers & sellers price systems emerge, & serve as a signal as to the urgent & unfilled wants of people. The promise of profits gives entrepreneurs incentive to use their knowledge & resources to satisfy those wants. Thus the activities of millions of people, each seeking his own interest, are coordinated.”
• Moral imperative: Ayn Rand said that a laissez-faire capitalism “allows people to be free to act in their rational self-interest.”

Criticisms:

• Religious criticism & opposition: Jews, Christians, & Muslims have been critical as to this form of economy leading to greed & selfishness
• Tendency toward oligopoly & monopoly: many critics have associated capitalism with an unfair distribution of wealthy, cultural exploitation, & repression of workers
• Environmental destruction: “Environmentalists have argued that capitalism requires continual economic growth, & will inevitably deplete the finite natural resources of the earth, & other broadly utilized resources.”

Economic & Social Ideologies: Socialism

Socialism, according to dictionary.reference.com, is “a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of ownership & control of the means of production & distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.” Karl Marx described socialism as the transition stage a society goes through when evolving from capitalism into communism.

Socialists believe capitalism places all the power in the hands of the wealthy. Their idea is to redistribute this power & wealth based on the amount of work employed. However, disagreements in how this should be performed has lead to many different types of socialism. “Some socialists advocate complete nationalization of the means of production, distribution, & exchange; others advocate state control of capital within the framework of a market economy.” (Wikipedia) “Social democrats propose selective nationaliztion of key national industries in mixed economies, while maintaining private ownership of capital & private business enterprise. Social democrats also promote tax-funded welfare programs & regulation of markets.” (Wikipedia)

From what I understand, socialism is an attempt to make everyone in society equal. It sounds nice but cannot work. People are too lazy, selfish, etc for this type of lifestyle. Ideally, in a socialistic environment, the fellow frying up your French fries at your favorite fast food restaurant would be compensated the same as your doctor who spent 10+ years in college & who knows how much money.

Current Marxist-Leninist socialist countries include: People’s Republic of China (since October 1, 1949), Cuba (since January 1, 1959), Laos (since December 2, 1975), North Korea (since 1948), & Vietnam (in unified Vietnam since July 2, 1976, but in the north since 1954). Countries who reference socialism in their constitution & subscribe to many of the ideologies of socialism but do not necessarily follow Marxist-Leninist ideas include: Bangladesh (since December 16, 1972), Egypt (since September 11, 1971), India (since November 2, 1976), Libya (since September 1, 1969), Portugal (since 1976), Sri Lanka (since September 7, 1978), Syria (since 1973), & Tanzania (since April 26, 1964).

Economic & Social Ideologies: Communism

Communism is, according to Dictionary.com, “a system of social organization in which all economic & social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a singe & self-perpetuation political party.”

The idea of collectivism has been traced back to antiquity. Many relate back to the mention of such practices in Plato’s The Republic, Spartacus’s uprising against Rome, Thomas More’s Utopia, & some even consider the Sermon on the Mount to be referring to a collective society. However, Communism’s true birth occurred after the French Revolution. During this time in history, the terms “Communism” & “Socialism” were used interchangeably.

Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848) by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engles “firmly tied communism with the idea of working class revolution conducted by the exploited proletariat (or the working class).” (Wikipedia)

“Marx posited that communism would be the final stage in human society, which would be achieved after an intermediate stage called socialism, & through the temporary & revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat. Communism in the Marxist sense refers to a classless, stateless, & oppression-free society where decisions on what to produce & what policies to pursue are made directly & democratically.” (Wikipedia)

“Most influential leftist & socially critical theories either develop Marxism further, (e.g., social democracy, Leninism, Maoism, & Trotskyism), or completely drop Marxist ideology and do not set the creation of classless society as their aim (e.g., the modern feminism, New Labour, environmentalism). Therefore the words Marxism & communism are usually understood as synonymous.” (Wikipedia)

Lenin led the Bolsheviks in taking over Russia from the Czars after WWI leading to the founding of the Soviet Union in 1922. Stalin took Lenin’s place in 1924 after he died from a stroke despite his warnings against Stalin. “Once in power, Stalin carried out multiple purges of dissidents & left communists/opposition, particularly of those around Leon Trotsky, & established the character of Communism as the totalitarian ideology it is most commonly known as & referred to today.” (Wikipedia)

After WWII, Communist regimes started sprouting up all over Central & Eastern Europe & China. After the Cold War & several events that exhibited the people’s unhappiness with the Communist ideal, most of the European Communist governments suffered utter collapse in 1989 with the Soviet Union following suit two years later.

Communism is still alive & well today. “By the beginning of the 21st century, states controlled by Communist parties under a single-party system include the People’s Republic of China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, & Vietnam.” (Wikipedia) Several countries including the Republic of Moldova & Cyprus have leaders who belong to Communist parties. South Africa, India, & Nepal all have very active Communist parties &/or politicians. The Socialist Workers Party(SWP) in Britain, the International Socialist Organization (ISO) in the US, & the New Anticapitalist Party in France all continue to grow in adherents.

In the map below, "The Red states represent Communist governments aligned with the Soviet Union. The Yellow states represents Communist governments aligned with the People's Republic of China (besides China itself, there were only three: the Socialist People's Republic of Albania, Democratic Kampuchea, and the Somali Democratic Republic). The Black states (North Korea and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) represent the Communist governments that were not aligned with either."

Economic & Social Ideologies: Intro.

I hear, & occasionally use myself, words like “Socialism” & “Communism.” To be honest, I did do some research on those two words a few years ago because I heard people use them interchangeably & I wasn’t really sure if they meant exactly the same thing so I do know there is a slight difference. However, I want to know a little more about them plus others.

When I started my “Forms of Government” series I thought about adding “Socialism” & “Communism” to the series but the more I researched them, I found that they don’t fit exactly into the category as a “form of government.” Yes, they are forms of government but they are also economic & social ideologies.

Most countries follow one of the forms of government I mentioned in my series & also follow another economic & social system. For example, here in American we follow a Constitutional Republic with a Capitalistic economic system.

There a many different types of social & economic ideologies but essentially most of them can be categorized into one or more of the three main forms: Communism, Socialism, & Capitalism. And, those are the three main systems I am going to cover in this series.

I wanted to add, Fascism, Leninism, Nazism, Marxism & others but soon the list grew out of hand &, really, many of these are just different forms of each other & not fundamentally different. So, I decided to keep it simple & just go after the 3 major categories.

• Communism
• Socialism
• Capitalism