Socialism: an economic and political theory advocating public or common ownership and cooperative management of the means of production and allocation of resources. (www.wikipedia.com).
Communism: a sociopolitical movement that aims for a classless society structured upon communal ownership of the means of production and the end of wage labor and private property. The exact definition of communism varies and it is commonly used interchangeably with socialism, however, communist theory contends that socialism is just a transitional stage on the way to communism. (www.wikipedia.com).
I think most U.S. citizens would agree that capitalism and socialism are the only 2 economic systems that could possibly work for the U.S. Currently, the U.S.'s economic system is capitalism. But is capitalism working, and are there other systems that we haven't yet explored that might work?
It seems like healthcare is a right, and therefore, we should pay for it while we're healthy, so that we don't have to pay when we're sick. And it seems like we should share our wealth with others, just in areas which help the common good and are areas of human rights. It seems like, if we were to give up our money for any common good, the most valiant way to do so would be to give it up for the health of ourselves and others. It seems like that would be the best plan, so that no one has to go without healthcare. Then we can stop giving people Medicare and Medicaid (since we all know people take advantage of those programs.) And most of all, that way, insurance companies don't have the right to choose what they will cover. (A.K.A. They won't be able to choose who lives and who dies.) But this is apart of socialism. Is that what the U.S. needs?
I think it's fair to say that people should be able to privately own their own businesses if they want. That is the good thing about capitalism. Another thing. Capitalism boosts competition, which is some people see as a good thing. But why is it good? Wouldn't it be great if the government were to pay everyone the same wage, no matter what job you have? This is communism. In theory, that sounds great, because then no one would be too poor, and no one would be too rich. But think about it. Who would put forth more effort to be a lawyer if he/she could make the same amount of money working a less strenuous job (i.e. a janitor, a cashier, etc.?) No one. So, in order to fill all the spots we need filled, we need competition. This is another reason capitalism is a good idea. However, there is such thing as too much competition, which I believe the U.S. has. Sometimes competitition goes too far, when what we really need to do is use our education, power, and knowledge to boost the whole up, rather than using all that we have to boost only ourselves up. If I'm the smartest person in the class, rather than keeping my knowledge and understanding to myself and taking all the credit and soaking up all the attention and rewards, shouldn't I be helping other students to understand as well as I do? That's the idea of the U.S. being overly competitive and not working as a team, so that the whole understands and can work together as a team, thereby being more efficient.
But still, even with some of the good sides to capitalism, is it working? It seems like the U.S. economy would be a lot better if it were working. It seems like I'd get paid more for my job if it were working. And it seems like there would be more jobs available if it were working. So what's the problem? Oh, and why can't we mix systems to make a completely new system that might work, so that we can have a certain amount of competition, but not too much, a universal healthcare system that works better than the system we currently have, etc.?
Some people say that, by reforming healthcare, the U.S. is getting closer to socialism, which a lot of people don't like, because socialism is known as the transition stage between capitalism and communism. And, as I think most U.S. citizens agree, communism would not work for America. However, I think people get the wrong idea of what socialism is. Socialism, as defined above, mixes a lot of the good concepts of communism (and there are some, believe it or not) and the good concepts of capitalism.
So first I'm going to list some flaws in the capitalist system, according to the Marxist Theory, which I think is very interesting and everyone will find to be very legitimate ideas when you guys read them:
1. During depressions and in bad economies, people have problems finding jobs.
2. Minimum wage is very low, and tons of people are way underpaid for their jobs. Minimum wage is not enough to live off of, so people who don't have college degrees are almost always doomed to be in extreme poverty. Even for people who have jobs that pay more than minimum wage, almost everyone is underpaid, especially college students.
3. Insurance companies rule the world. They essentially decide who lives and who dies. They are really expensive, and when you have an accident or a disease pop up, you still have to pay a ton of money, all of a sudden and at one time, due to deductables and percentages you have to pay. And you didn't even see it coming.
4. There are few extremely wealthy people, while most of the country is poor. Check out my note "The Reality of Poverty" for more information on this.
5. There is too much competition and not enough people working together to not only make the whole better, but to be more efficient. People simply long to be the "best" and suck up all the rewards themselves.
6. People don't care about keeping the environment intact. They suck up all they can from it for a profit until there is nothing left, and they don't care. It's all about the money. If you haven't read the book The Lorax or seen the movie, I highly recommend it. Both are very good, and they highlight this exact point in disturbing and realistic, yet entertaining way. Also, check out my note "Don't Be a Vegetarian; Instead Change the System" for more information on this.
7. Workers and animals suffer, because capitalists run the show the way that will make them as much money as possible, not the fair way or the way that will do the least damage. Check out my note "Don't Be a Vegetarian; Instead Change the System" for more information on this.
8. People become apathetic as they get tired of working from paycheck to paycheck and being super poor, so they are less likely to become motivated to change the world for the better. So we never actually see any real progress.
9. We come up with all kinds of new technologies and inventions that we don't need - which actually pull us into debt and make us suffer monetarily. For instance, credit cards. The banks came up with the idea of credit cards and advertise them because it's a way for them to make more money. However, they're advertising and facilitating the idea that we should live beyond our means - that we should want, want, want.
10. We are taught we need things that we don't actually need. In the case of The Lorax, as I mentioned above, people were taught that they need a "thneed," which was an article of clothing that served no real purpose, but people spent tons of money on them and bought them like crazy until the resources that were used to make the thneeds were gone. And guess what went away along with those thneeds? An entire habitat that a ton of animals needed in order to survive. People need, need, need, (or should I say want, want, want?) And then what is left? Everyone is greedy, no one can ever be satisfied with what they have, there's too much competition to make more money to buy more things, people are selfish, we run out of resources that we (along with animals) actually need, we destroy beautiful places and habitats, we take everything for granted, and people work way too hard and don't spend enough time doing what makes them happy - like spending time with friends and family. THAT is what we end up with when we want, want want. Capitalism sets us all up for failure, because it teaches us to never be satisfied with what we have. Living simplistically is the best way to go and teaching that to our children is setting them up for a life of debt-free happiness. You want some really great reasons for why we should live simplistically? Here are just a few: There are people starving in the world who need the money more than we do; it's not appreciative to spend, spend, spend and never be happy with what you have; it's wasteful, unnecessary, and unfulfilling to spend, spend, spend; it's showing your kids that money is everything, and that they need to be greedy and spend lots of money, even though it can get them into big trouble when they spend, spend, spend; this also teaches your kids to be spoiled and that they don't have to work hard; generally, living like a capitalist causes you to work more, which gives you less time with your family; and living like a capitalist leads to greediness, false satisfaction, and the idea that you can buy love.
11. And now #10 brings me to my last point - Everything becomes about money, and the world is consumed with greed. I wanted to emphasize this point, because this really does sum it all up. You can read about this in my note "Is the Use of Currency Making Us Greedy?"
So what are some really great benefits of Socialism, according to the Marxist Theory?
1. The motivating drive of Socialism is not about material gain, but rather a more unified, fair, and fully human people.
2. People produce in a more associative, non-competitive way.
3. People produce in a more rational way, rather than in the way that makes them the most money possible. By this, I mean that people keep in mind that they need to keep the environment intact, and they realize that they need to run production in such a way that is fair to the company's workers and animals.
4. Freedom is a universal right, not a special privilege.
5. The goal of socialism is the recognition and realization of man's true needs. We stay in the realm of necessity, which shortens work weeks and work days, because we don't feel the need to be on top or work crazy hours in order to be the best and have the most. This loosens the reigns on competition so that it does not get out of hand. This also lightens up on all the resources we use, therefore not destroying the earth so quickly and not destroying too many habitats and natural resources and not setting up companies that are abusive to animals and employees, simply for personal gain. The overuse of things like ipads, iphones, laptops, etc. are unnecessary and melt the brain anyway.
6. The wealthy would not rule the world, as there would be much more equality, while still maintaining the necessary competition in society. Socialism involves the destruction of idols.
7. Money would no longer be the meaning of life, and greed would not consume the lives of everyone who gets a little taste of wealth and power.
Now I'm not saying we should move to a socialist economic system. I'm also not saying it's a bad idea. What I'm really saying is that we should probably explore some options other than capitalism. Even if that means looking into some other potential ideas that might work or merging a couple economic systems together to make a good system that works, I think it's worth it. Because there has to be something out there that's better than what we currently have.
Can I just give a testimony here? When I was in Greece in 2008, I got strep throat. I went straight to the hospital, was seen in about 5 minutes, was out of there as soon as I came, and received great care. The doctor found out what the problem was, prescribed me some medicine, and I was on my way. The medicine cost 6$, and the hospital visit was free. And I was feeling about 90% better by the very next day. I know what you're thinking. Yes, Greece's economy is down the tube right now, but it has nothing to do with their healthcare system, no matter what Fox News tries to lead people to believe. We all know they are biased and don't always give the most correct information, whether you like the network or not. (And I'm not dissing them. I have a lot of very left-wing views myself, as I'm apart of a third party that agrees with many right-wing views, as well as left-wing views.) The point is, there are some great healthcare systems out there that provide easy healthcare for everyone, without anyone being able to take advantage of the system. Now, of course, this is only an example of what happened to me when I was sick with strep throat. I do not have a personal testimony from what would've happened if I had gone to the hospital for something like cancer. My point is simply that there are so many better systems out there that we should take a look at and maybe learn from, and our system is so obviously flawed. We need change.
I guess this is going to be my fun fact paragraph:
1. There's a quote that is very enlightening: "He who dies with the most toys wins." I much prefer the quote, "He who dies with the most toys is, nonetheless, still dead."
2. In the U.S., people's savings rates have gone from 8% in 1980 to in the negatives today.
3. In the U.S., there were 200,000 bankruptcies in 1980, compared to 1.6 million in 2010.
4. Average credit card debt for Americans = 7,000$ per household.
5. 1,000$ is paid in interest per household per year in America.
6. Most Americans underestimate their credit card debt by a factor of 2.
7. Sociologist Juliet Schor suggests we tax high end items and have tax-free low end items. This might be a decent idea.
8. America's top 2 most popular past times are watching tv and shopping, according to Sociologist Betsy Taylor.
9. America is less than 5% of the world's population but has 30% of the world's consumption, 32% of the world's cars, and 40% of the world's gasoline.
10. Since 1940, Americans alone have used up as large a share of the earth's mineral resources as have all previous humans put together. Americans also use 20% of the world's energy, we eat 15% of the world's meat, and we produce 30% of the world's trash.
11. If everyone on earth consumed as much as Americans do, we would need 3-5 planets.
12. This over-consumption has caused countless environmental problems, including the destruction of tons of plant and animal species. It is predicted that ALL large mammal species will be wiped out in the next 50 years due to this over-consumption.
13. 1/3 of the planet's natural space has been diminished in 30 years due to consumerism.
14. Less than 4% of U.S. original forests are still around.
15. 40% of U.S. water undrinkable.
16. 80% of the world's forests are gone.
17. 2,000 trees are cut down each minute in the Amazon alone. (That's the equivalent of 7 football fields.)
18. 75% of the world's fisheries are fished at or past capacity.
19. 100,000 synthetic chemicals are used in consumer production, most of which are not tested.
20. Which food do you think has the highest amount of toxic chemicals? BREAST MILK. This means that babies are getting the main dosage of toxic chemicals at the youngest age possible. Bad start in life = bad life. And do you know how this happens? We eat all kinds of toxic foods that have chemicals in them.
21. 4 billion pounds of toxic chemicals are produced each year by factories.
22. 99% of consumed items are trashed within 6 months that they are purchased.
23. Consumerism was constructed to be America's number one goal in the 1950s after World War 2, so that the U.S government could make more money to pay for the war and all the damage it caused. Isn't it sad that America's number one goal is consumerism, rather than education, justice, public safety, etc.?
24. When you think your computer is broken and no longer usable, it's really just a tiny, inexpensive piece that goes inside your computer that is broken. Not only are we not told this information, but each year, computer companies change the shape of these pieces, so that when our piece needs to be replaced in a couple years, we can't just buy a replacement piece to slip into our computer to fix the problem. We have to buy a completely new computer instead, which is way more expensive, boosting consumerism.
25. Companies actually go through a process to figure out how low quality they can make their products, so that the products will break and need to be replaced in a short enough time period that people will continue to buy new stuff, but a long enough time period that people will still believe that company is dependable. How sad is that??? You see how your jeans are ripping every 6 months? That's because that company has made your jeans so low quality that you are FORCED to come back and buy new jeans from them every 6 months.
26. Media, fashion, and advertisements teach us to consume, and that we should keep up with new fashions every year by consuming more new products, even if we don't need them.
27. The national happiness dropped at an insane level in the 1950s, which happens to be the exact time that this consumerism structure began, even though we're taught consumerism is what will make us happy. Why do you think this is? It's because we now have no time to spend with the people we love or doing the things we love, because we're constantly working more and more hours at more demanding jobs to make more and more money to buy more and more stuff! Advertising makes people feel like they need to constantly buy more stuff all the time, which wastes our money, and therefore, our time. We should value time over money and fun over stuff, as sociologist Betsy Taylor believes.
28. Each American produces 4.5 pounds of garbage per day.
29. Incineration and landfills create super toxins, such as Dioxin, which is world's worst toxin.
30. We need to change our system into a more environmentally friendly, healthier, safer, and more value-based system. The system we have was created; it's not something we simply have to live with, because there's no other way. If we created the system we're living in now, then we can create a better system! People need to exercise conscious consuming as a start. Live simplistically, and push for a better system!
There are all kinds of other fun (or not so fun) facts I could give you guys on this topic, especially environmental facts. If you are interested in this topic and want to know more, here are some really great documentaries to check out: "The Story of Stuff" (which you can find at http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-stuff/,) "Capitalism: A Love Story" (which you can find pretty much anywhere,) and every "Killing Us Softly" (which you can find at the Georgia State University Library.) The last one has hints some themes and insights on capitalism, but it mostly about other things. However, everything in these documentaries is interesting and unique, so I went ahead and threw it in there. There are several of them, but if you only want to check out one, I'd highly recommend "Killing Us Softly 4." Also, by the way, a lot of the fun facts I put in the paragraph above are from "The Story of Stuff," but there's a whole more in the documentary to check out, so give it a shot!
This is actually my own photo. I saw these protesters when I was in London, England.
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