Capitalism and Socialism are both economic systems and are used in different societies throughout the world. Even though both of these systems are implemented, they do have some similarities between them, but are also different in many aspects. Capitalism and Socialism may work for certain societies, but both have shortcomings and criticisms that come along with them. Despite the views of both Capitalism and Socialism, both economic systems have merged features from one another. When comparing Capitalism and Socialism, they both have three essential components (although the components of each are different). Both require a strong government support to survive. They also have strong control over the general population of the world. The main comparison between the two of them is that both retain property and the means of production, but both in different forms. Contrasting Capitalism and Socialism, components of Capitalism are that private individuals own the means of production; they market to compete with each other and the individual decides what to produce, how much to produce and what price to sell items at; and the pursuit of profit, private owners decide what the products should cost for receiving a profit. With Socialism, the public or government owns the means of production; the government forms a committee to determine how many items will be produced, the cost, what factories will make them, and where the product is going to be sold; and there is no motive for making a profit. Socialism is designed to eliminate competition and there goal is produce goods for the general welfare, and to distribute according to needs. Capitalism is focused on how much people are willing to pay. Some criticisms opposed to by each of the groups are, Capitalists believe that market forces should determine products and prices and that it benefits society, bringing a more abundant supply of goods at cheaper prices. Socialists consider profit to be immoral. Profit is just an excess value that has been withheld from workers. Despite both of those statements, the primary criticism against Capitalism is that it leads to social inequality. The few people who owns the production will become wealthier and more powerful and reap huge profits, while they have poorly paid workers who actually created the products so the owners can reap the benefits.
The primary criticism against Socialism, it does not respect individual rights. The government will get to control everyone’s lives. The government gets to decide who lives where, how many children a family can have, and where you will work. Central planning is inefficient and not capable of producing wealth. The overlap in Capitalism and Socialism is that when nations industrialize, they resemble each other producing similar products and divisions of labor. The convergence theory is a view which points to a mixed economy. As an example, the governments of Russia and China reinstated market forces and encouraged Capitalism, which was illegal, to boost their economy, to catch up on shortages and the production of “badly” made products. Another example is how the United States started taking money from some individuals to pay for the benefits it gives to others, such as unemployment, subsidized housing, and welfare. The embraces of each of these examples shows how the world produced a mixed economy between Capitalism and Socialism. Today most of the world’s nations are embracing Capitalism. Socialism however, is still current in societies, and they may both do some things the same way just with different owners for the means of production, but these systems are still entirely different. Some wonder what the difference really is between the two is, or in matter of opinions which one is best. Each system perceives the other as one of exploitation, which may be true, but both in different ways. Capitalism and Socialism have two very different ideologies and even though they both are economic systems, they are both different and that they both are still used in various parts of the world.

REFERENCES:

Henslin, James M. "Chapter 11, Politics and Ecomony (pp. 342-349)" Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-earth Approach 8th edition. Boston: Pearson/A and B, 2013

Thompson, C. Bradley. "Publications." Ashbrook. C. Bradley Thompson, Oct. 1993. Web. 12 May 2013. Retrieved from http://ashbrook.org/publications/onprin-v1n3-thompson/