Capitalism or Communism?

Essay by kookookrnboiHigh School, 11th grade February 2005

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During the past few centuries, many economic systems arrived and deteriorated. Adam Smith and Karl Marx who are best known for the these 2 economic systems thought that this would revolutionize the economy and it did in a way. To this day, capitalism and communism still stands as the 2 leading economic systems countries use. Both have their ups and downs but these two variations of economy helped shaped this world in there own ways.

True communism depends on human nature being basically altruistic. For communism to work, the members of the society either need to be altruistic enough to want to work for the benefit of their neighbors, or they need to be forward thinking enough to see that what benefits the whole benefits themselves. They must be very far-sighted indeed, because large-scale social benefits tend to be more abstract in nature, and more difficult to recognize. In contrast, when you get your paycheck, you can buy your VCR, and there it is on your table.

You can directly relate your work to the results. If human nature is basically egoistic, then true communism doesn't work. If people are basically selfish, then they won't work for the common good, and there will be a tendency to freeload or otherwise take advantage of the system. For communism to work in that case, you would you need to make sure that everybody was doing their fair share. You would need a system of "points", to make sure everybody is doing their part. People then work to earn points, so that they can justify receiving their share -- or else they don't get their share, or they go to jail, or they're kicked out of the community, or some other fascist reaction. The Soviet Union is a good example because everybody had...