Capitalism vs. Socialism

The other day for class we experienced the always thrilling concepts of capitalism and socialism. To accomplish this our teacher passed out starbursts which we used as currency. Some people started out better than others; some got ten while others received three. To fully explore the capitalist view, we played rock paper scissors for starbursts. Some people became immensely successful while others lost all their candy, and had resorted to a life of crime. Stealing starbursts from the government and each other. At the end of the activity, our teacher announced she was collecting all the starbursts back and redistributing them to an even amount amongst us. It was frustrating to most of us because the majority had three or more. The people with none or less than three were ecstatic though, they'd be getting more than they lost.This is to display how socialism works and its attempt at being an utopian society. These are two different approaches at government both having clear faults and advantages to them.

The founder of socialism is Karl Marx, he was a prosperous philosopher and co-wrote The Communist Manifesto. Which laid out the the basis of communism and socialism. It states that the government should not exist; that once wealth was evenly distributed between everyone that the it would be unnecessary. People would come together and protect one another and do favors for one another since everyone had the same amount of money. The theory was that it'd end greediness and crime throughout the countries. Marx created communism because he believed that the already emplaced rules of capitalism worked against the poor and gave the wealthy too much power. This way no one was better than the other and it didn't matter how much you worked you still had the same amount of opportunities. 

Adam Smith wrote the Wealth of Nations way before Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto. His thought process was that if the government didn't restrict peoples businesses that the economy would improve. This is because companies would lower the cost of their product until one business changed their product or went of business. People wouldn't be forced to buy pricey items and thus the economy would improve. There's this idea referred to as the invisible hand which is since businesses would hit a roadblock it'd lead them in the right direction. The invisible hand would be beneficial to the poor due to the reduced prices for competition. Though, it would take a long time for all this to even out to be fully effective. 

The better option seems to be capitalism, in my opinion. Socialism and communism is too utopian society esque to work out. Everyone always says that communism looks better on paper than actually used. If the people of this world were flawless it would work. No government aspect of communism is slightly terrifying, there'd be no order. I feel as though the streets would end up as one big war zone. Capitalism on its own wouldn't work either, finding a middle ground between these ideas is crucial for a balanced government. This is how many countries are run now, although it is not a perfect system, it keeps the economy afloat.