Capitalism v. Communism

Class on October 3rd was interesting to say the least. When each kid walked in, he/she received a number of Hershey chocolates. The majority of kids got 3, while a smaller number received 10 chocolates. After receiving the candy, we were instructed to play rock, paper, scissors with our classmates, betting a certain amount of chocolates. The winner would receive the fixed number of chocolates from the loser. There was no option to sit down and not play, unless you lost all of your chocolates. After this first part of class, a new option was introduced. Our teacher collected all of the chocolates and redistributed so that everyone had 3 chocolates. However, this time you did not have to play rock, paper, scissors. If you wanted to, you could just stay with what you had and not risk losing it all. After all of this, our teacher informed us that this activity was not simply for fun. It was to show what it was like for commoners under Marx’s ideas of capitalism, socialism, and communism. The activity was a good way to show how frustrating it can be to earn so much and have it taken away from you by the government, to be given to someone else. In addition to just Marx’s ideas, we also learned of Adam Smith’s philosophy, primarily the “invisible hand”. The “invisible hand” involves an economy with no government intervention, with prices rising and falling with supply and demand. Both had ways of helping the poor, and because of this, both are considered good systems. However, they are also not without their flaws.

Karl Marx believed that his system of capitalism, socialism, and communism would help the poor. In starting with a capitalist system, he believed that two unequal social classes would be created: the bourgeoisie, or the wealthy, and the proletariat, the poor. This would result in class struggle, and eventually, protests. Due to these protests, the government would collect all property, and redistribute so that everyone had the same amount of wealth, with the hope of economic equality for all. Once this society without social class was reached, communism would be reached, and all members of society would agree to share to make everyone equal. This system would help the poor because no one group would be “poor” anymore. As everyone was of equal wealth, there were no longer “rich” or “poor” people. Adam Smith also believed that his system would help the poor, though in a different way. With the invisible hand, the government would not be involved in the economy, and people could buy and sell whatever they wanted to. In this system, prices would rise and fall with supply and demand, also with competitors having to match each other’s prices. In this system, the prices would gradually decrease with each seller wanting to have to best price, in order to attract customers. Eventually, after a while, the prices would be cheap enough for the poor to afford what they needed.

Though both systems are effective in the long run, they are not the best solutions to the problem. Marx’s system, which leads to communism, is not the best if you want to keep the common people happy. Those who worked hard for their money would have lost everything that they had worked for, while those who inherited their money would feel cheated out of what was rightfully theirs. Smith’s system would require the lower class to suffer for a long time while the prices were dropping and they still couldn’t afford the things they needed. A third alternative system could be more jobs being created for the lower classes, so that they would make at least some money and be able to afford some of what they need. This way, they do not have to suffer the way they would’ve under the invisible hand, while the rich kept what they had earned or gained.