Corey Peterson (Edison) - Capitalism vs. Socialism

When we think or capitalism, we think of your form of government and the economics that goes along with it. When we think of socialism, we think of U.S.S.R. or Soviet Russia and the economics and ways that this power came to be, BUT the reality is that both of these have things in common and things that are dramatically different.

Let us start off with the forms of government that is founded by capitalism and socialism. In the capitalistic form, it is the responsibility of the government to “protect rights that are instituted.” (Frequently Asked Questions) In that rate, the government is responsible for all individuals’ rights and the protection of those rights. These can incorporate fiscal policy, constitutional, and all actions of a country’s citizens. In the form of socialism the government “all authority originates from the workers, integrally united in Socialist Industrial Unions.” (What is Socialism?) This mean that as a common worker, you’re the one that controls how the government should be ran from every aspect, as long as it affects you as a worker. This could work for a worker in a small business, but in a larger industry based area, this could be a problem for economics.

Now let us look at the morality, the freedom to choose between alternatives without outside coercion. In a capitalistic society people have the freedom of choice which allows “the best environment for morality and character development.” (Younkins) Also in this society ALL humans have the natural rights and a moral responsibility to respect those rights. In the socialistic government morality is centered by “envy and self-sacrifice” (Thompson) This means that there is a longing for what others have and that the self must give up what it wants to get where it wants. “Capitalism is the only moral system because it requires human beings to deal with one another as traders” (Thompson) As compared to the socialistic government which uses compulsion and the organized violence of the State to get and maintain wealth.

Our next point to look at is individual initiative. “Capitalism is tailored to individual initiative rather than groupthink or community initiative.” (Noebel) That is in order for the wheels of capitalism to work, individuals must come up with new ideas for jobs and business. They must invent ideas that will propel society and continue to propel capitalism. In contrast, socialism does not support individual initiative. Individuals must work for the better of the group and the good of the mother/father land. This is an example of group initiative where the individual works for the common good of all. This can be compared to an ant colony. You have worker ants and fighter ants and each one works for the good of the colony and no one questions how life must go on, they just work for the group. This is the normal idea for the socialistic ideas, but is polar opposite of the beliefs of capitalism.

Now let us look at individual freedom. In socialism, the chief aim is to “annihilate the freedom of the individual” (Bax) In this idea, if an individual has freedoms than he or she has individual ideas, but if those freedoms are taken away for the individual, than he/she has the ability to step away from the group and become ones self. On the other hand, in the capitalistic society the individual has an abundant amount of freedoms. They have the right to self think, to fight for what THEY as an individual believe is right, they have freedom of speech and have the freedom of business choice. This BIG difference is the most observant of socialism and capitalism.

So as you can see there are many great differences between socialism and capitalism. From the individual right to the formation of their government, capitalism seems to work better for the people and socialism is all about the group or society as a whole. Now if there was only a way to blend them into a happy medium, that may solve a lot of the issues that we are having these days with the economy and medical fields.

Work Cited

Bax, E. Belfort. “Individual Rights Under Socialism.” Marxists Internet Archive. 14 Jan 2006. Un-Known. 31 Mar 2009 <http://www.marxists.org/archive/bax/1891/03/rights.htm>.

“Frequently Asked Questions.” Capitalism. 2004. Capitalism Magazine. 31 Mar 2009 <http://www.capitalism.org/faq/government.htm>.

Noebel, David A.. “How The Socialist Are Destroying America From Within.” America’s Independent Party National Committee. 16 Mar 2009. America’s Independent Party National Committee. 31 Mar 2009 <http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/onprin/v1n3/thompson.html>.

Thompson, C. Bradley. “Socialism vs. Capitalism:.” Ashbrook Center. SOctober 1993. Public Affairs of Ashland University. 31 Mar 2009 <http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/onprin/v1n3/thompson.html>.

“What is Socialism?.” Socialist Labor Party. Un-Known. Socialist Labor Party of America. 31 Mar 2009 <http://www.slp.org/what_is.htm>.

Younkins , Edward. “Capitalism and Morality .” Impact. Summer 1998. Wheeling Jesuit University. 31 Mar 2009 <http://www.quebecoislibre.org/younkins21.html>.

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