Free Essay

Debate for Socialist and Capitalist

In:

Submitted By nancy198912
Words 629
Pages 3
Socialist and Capitalist:
First, when we talk about the Western Europe is capitalist or socialist, we have to understand what is capitalist and socialist. Capitalist is a social system based on the principle of individual rights. Politically, it is a system of freedom. Legally, it is a system of objective laws, which is common law. Economically, when such a freedom is applied to the sphere of production its’ result is the free-market. However, socialist is an economic system where the means of production, such as money and other forms of capital, are owned by the state or public. Under a socialist system everyone works for wealth that is distributed to everyone. A socialist economic system operated on the premise that what is good for one is good for all. Everyone works for their own good and the good of everyone else. Legally, socialist system is based on the civil law system and Marxist-Leninist ideology.
And I want to make one more clarification, as do many people, we confused socialism with communism, socialist in Western Europe doesn’t mean Communist. Social democrats committed themselves to achieving socialism by democratic means, turning their backs on violent revolution and dictatorship.
Based on socialist characteristic, we concluded that Western Europe is socialist country. Here are the reasons why we say Western Europe is socialist country.
Socialist: France
One of largest political party in France is social-democratic. France provided some actions on public interests, such as trade unions, generous welfare benefits, some form of nationalized health care, even restrictions on carbon emissions. In some firms, such as the iron and steel companies Usinor and Sacilor, the State already owed majority shares.
The legal system in France is civil law. The origins of the French legal system is Code Civil, which laid down the rights and obligations of citizen, and the law of property, contract, inheritance.
Socialist: United Kingdom
A lot people think that United Kingdom is capitalist, however, that’s not true. Even United Kingdom has some things that look like capitalist, such as free market, democracy. But they do socialist things. For example, free health care, free education, share of wealth when you add up what you pay you taxed for, child benefits. In government U.K has some control over the companies. For example, Lloyds Banking Group is a major British financial institution, as March 2012, HM Treasury, which is the United Kingdom government department, held 40% shareholding through UK Financial Investment Limited.
Socialist: Netherlands
The Netherland is a socialist country, the socialist segment of the economy is foundation of the country’s economy. The company called SNS REAAL is financial institution in insurance and banking, it is a government-owned corporation. In addition, the Netherlands has an excellent medical care system. Affording human beings medical care should not be a business in which a decision to provide services or not is measured in dollars and cents. The Netherlands is afforded high quality medical care, irregardless of their wealth, or lack thereof. Netherlands is a civil law country.
Socialist: Germany
Even through Germany has a relatively free market; it is still a socialist country. In Germany, it is required for worker representation to be half of board members of companies. In Germany, the industrial and financial sectors are highly regulated keeping jobs from being outsourced and ensuring main street benefits rather than just wall street. Moreover, Germany care greatly for their citizens and provide a very strong safety net to catch anyone who might fall out of the system: good health care, benefits for people that don’t have a job, and various subsidies for people that do not make enough money.

Resource: Retrieved from http://capitalism.org/ Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyds_Banking_Group Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNS_Reaal

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Social Theories

...In a way, communism is an extreme form of socialism. Many countries have dominant socialist political parties but very few are truly communist. In fact, most countries - including staunch capitalist bastions like the U.S. and U.K. - have government programs that borrow from socialist principles. "Socialism" is sometimes used interchangeably with "communism" but the two philosophies have some stark differences. Most notably, while communism is a political system, socialism is primarily an economic system that can exist in various forms under a wide range of political systems. Comparison chart | |Communism |Socialism | |Philosophy |From each according to his ability, to each according to |From each according to his ability, to each according to| | |his needs. Free-access to the articles of consumption is |his contribution. Emphasis on profit being distributed | | |made possible by advances in technology that allow for |among the society or workforce to complement individual | | |super-abundance. |wages/salaries. | |Economic System |The means of production are held in common, negating the |The means of production are owned by public enterprises | | |concept of ownership in...

Words: 3092 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Economics

...What are Business Ethics? Meaning Ethics is a branch of social science. It deals with moral principles and social values. It helps us to classify, what is good and what is bad? It tells us to do good things and avoid doing bad things. So, ethics separate, good and bad, right and wrong, fair and unfair, moral and immoral and proper and improper human action. In short, ethics means a code of conduct. So, the businessmen must give a regular supply of good quality goods and services at reasonable prices to their consumers. They must avoid indulging in unfair trade practices like adulteration, promoting misleading advertisements, cheating in weights and measures, black marketing, etc. They must give fair wages and provide good working conditions to their workers. They must not exploit the workers. They must encourage competition in the market. They must protect the interest of small businessmen. They must avoid unfair competition. They must avoid monopolies. They must pay all their taxes regularly to the government. In short, business ethics means to conduct business with a human touch in order to give welfare to the society. Need or Importance of Business Ethics  Stop business malpractices : Some unscrupulous businessmen do business malpractices by indulging in unfair trade practices like black-marketing, artificial high pricing, adulteration, cheating in weights and measures, selling of duplicate and harmful products, hoarding, etc. These business malpractices are harmful to...

Words: 3282 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

The Theories of Making Money

...The Theories on Making Money There has always been a debate over whether socialism or capitalism is the most prosperous economical system. Throughout the years there have been several theories which show favoritism to each system, and with each of these theories there are the opponents. As the debate raged on, the countries that were opposed to one system or the other now use some portion of each system. In 2013 even countries like China and North Vietnam, who are socialist states, are applying forms capitalism and countries like the United States have adopted socialist practices. While explaining the difference between capitalism and socialism we will find out that as the world mixes with each other personally they will also mix economically by convergence. While researching these two topics I found that there is one major factor that each economical system has in common. Governments have chosen to use these systems to rule the people of their countries. It doesn’t matter what each systems in tells, the common factor was that the governments that uses each system believes that it is the only system to use. The differences between capitalism and socialism are so great that entire countries would not use the others system due to past beliefs. Socialism is based on the beliefs that government owns the means of production, which reduces the need for competition between companies. It is intended to provide goods to all people at a reasonable price regardless...

Words: 704 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Philosophy

...Rita Jackson Professor Smythe Philosophy 1000-01 April 4, 2010 The welfare state offers the solution that we can have the best of both worlds (Smythe). It attempts to provide a happy mean between capitalism and socialism by guaranteeing all citizens the resources needed for a decent life (Nathanson). Nathanson believes this is what constitutes the welfare state. First, it maximizes well-being by providing all with sufficient funds to minimize the suffering and deprivation that are caused by lack of resources (Nathanson). At the same time, by permitting inequalities it does not curtail economic incentives that motivate work and productivity (Nathanson). In addition, because it sets no ceiling on possessions, it allows better off people to acquire luxuries so long as their doing so does not contribute to pushing others below the level of a decent life (Nathanson). Thus, it imposes no unnecessary deprivations on anyone, rich or poor (Nathanson). Second, by ensuring the resources required for a decent life to all, it adequately responds to needs that people deserve to have met (Nathanson). At the same time, by permitting inequalities, it allows for greater rewards in accord with personal desert. If some people can acquire more by making greater efforts or contributions, this permissible, since they do not acquire it at the cost of depriving others of what they humanly deserve (Nathanson). Third, the comprehensive welfare state provides people with enough resources to...

Words: 1293 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Marxist Philosophy

...role in the development of the social sciences and the socialist political movement. During his lifetime Marx wrote and published many articles and books, most notably; The Communist Manifesto and Capital. Admirers of Marx work have drawn from what he wrote, taking his ideas one step further and created grand theoretical viewpoints which are known to us as Marxism. Marxism is a theory of economics and history and the basic explanation for how societies go through the process of change, Marx believed that capitalism was evil and created increasing disproportion so wealth in society, since the worker would become poorer the more wealth he created for their employers, this was because a worker becomes a cheaper commodity the more commodities he produces. The central theme of Marxism is public ownership and control of all means of production. Marxism thus calls for abolition of the capitalist economic system where chief means of production are privately owned. According to Marxism, supporting the development of a classless society would have led to prosperity and freedom for all. Marxist Ideas One of the basic ideas of Marxism is that of Dialectical Materialism. This outlook is referred to as dialectical materialism because its approach to the occurrences of nature, its method of studying and apprehending these occurrences is dialectical. Dialectics is derived from the Greek word, dialego, which means, to disclose, or to debate. Ancient philosophers believed that the disclosure of...

Words: 1210 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Marxist Inequality

...Social Inequality Unit 04 [pic] What are Marxist theories of inequality? Learning targets: • Marxism is concerned for the poor and powerless. • It claims that society is in conflict between the rich who control everything and the poor who must work for the rich and gain little in reward for their work. • The rich are able to maintain their position of power through control of the law, the police and other forms of authority. • The rich also control the manufacture of ideas about society through controlling the media and education so poor people are taught to believe that capitalism is a good thing. Key questions (AO1) What is the Marxist view of society? (AO1) What causes inequality according to Marxists? (AO2) What are the strengths of the Marxist view? (AO2) What are the weaknesses of the Marxist view of inequality? Summary of Key Points Karl Marx (1818 - 1883) was an economist, philosopher and journalist who was motivated by concern for workers who were experiencing terrible poverty while all around was great wealth and power. He was a revolutionary who believed in working for a classless society. Marxism was not a powerful force in sociology until the 1960s and 1970s when it formed the basis of a challenge to functionalism. It offered a better account of the divisions of society at that time than functional sociology did. Marxism also triggered many of the ideas that were...

Words: 3822 - Pages: 16

Premium Essay

Role of Ideology(Marxism)

...ROLE OF IDEOLOGY AS A TOOL OF ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE WORLD AND SOCIETY An ideology is a system of ideas or a representation of, ideas, of conceptions and of consciousness that attempts to explain simply what people say, imagine and/or conceive in their minds. It encompasses politics, morality, religion, metaphysics and law among others. In the process of simplification of the complex reality, ideologies always reflect a bias and serve the interests of a particular against another. The ideas that rule, which we may simply call, ‘ruling ideas’ are of a given group of people, the ruling class which represent the dominant material relationships. According to Marx, the goal of an ideology is to legitimize the forces of the ruling class to remain in the dominant position (hegemony).This way it obscures the understanding of the disempowered group into not understanding whatever is going on. This obfuscation results to logical contradictions in the dominant ideology, and Marxism tries to open up by returning to the materialistic conditions of a society which is commonly known as mode of production of the society. In the book, German Ideology, Marx and Engels lead us into understanding that it is possible address the real conditions in which humans exist outside the ideological bewilderment. Marxism tries to convince us that if the disempowered people (Bourgeoisie) come the understanding of the ideological mystification used by the ruling class (Proletariat). The premises...

Words: 1790 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Feminism

...female genitalia. Gender is considered a social construction - it grants meaning to the fact of sex. Conversely, it could be said that only after specific meanings came to be attached to the sexes, did sex differences become pertinent” (Geetha, 2002: 10). Gender based discriminations and exploitations are widespread and the socio-culturally defined characteristics, aptitudes, abilities, desires, personality traits, roles, responsibilities and behavioral patterns of men and women contribute to the inequalities and hierarchies in society. Gender differences are man made and they get legitimised in a patriarchal society. This paper attempts to link the theoretical dimensions of patriarchy with its empirical experiences to engage in the ongoing debates and discussion on “patriarchy” which manifests itself in various forms of discriminations, inequalities, hierarchies, inferior status and position of women in society. Thus it is important to understand patriarchy in terms of its multiplicity, complexities and dynamics. What is Patriarchy? Patriarchy literally means rule of the father in a male-dominated family. It is a social...

Words: 9801 - Pages: 40

Premium Essay

Testing

...them,[10]social ownership is the common element shared by its various forms.[5][11][12] Socialist economic systems can be divided into both non-market and market forms.[13]Non-market socialism involves the substitution of factor markets and money with engineering and technical criteria based oncalculation performed in-kind, thereby producing an economic mechanism that functions according to different economic laws than those of capitalism. Non-market socialism aims to circumvent the inefficiencies and crises traditionally associated with capital accumulation and the profit system.[22] By contrast, market socialism retains the use of monetary prices, factor markets, and, in some cases, the profit motive with respect to the operation of socially-owned enterprises and the allocation of capital goods between them. Profits generated by these firms would be controlled directly by the workforce of each firm or accrue to society at large in the form of a social dividend.[23][24][25] The feasibility and exact methods of resource allocation and calculation for a socialist system are the subjects of the socialist calculation debate. The socialist political movement includes a diverse array of political philosophies that originated amid the revolutionary movements of the mid-to-late 1700s out of general concern for the social problems that were associated with capitalism.[10] In addition to the debate over markets...

Words: 1040 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Marxist Theory Has Both Informed Community Development and Provided on Eof the Most Resonant Critiques of It.

...discuss the Marxist theories of alienation and struggles over mode of production and resource allocation, as well as how Western Marxism has shaped community development. In this essay I will also discuss how Marxist theory has identified that the working class are to be exploited by the bourgeoisie and the only way to improve society is to dismantle the capitalist society and install a socialist society. Marxist theory is based on Karl Marx’s theory of the struggle of the working class people selling their labour to the bourgeoisie – the capitalists – and their oppression by the welfare system. Marx believed that the rich bourgeoisie exploited the working class and the only way to stop this exploitation was to overthrow the capitalist system with socialism. The only real difference between capitalism and socialism is that private property rights and voluntary exchange define capitalism, whereas socialism is based around collective ownership of the means of production, which is owned by the state (Butgereit and Carden 2011, p41). Marx took this theory further, with the hope that once the capitalist system was overthrown, the socialist society would be based on a classless, stateless, moneyless society heading into low-level communism. Community development is the development and utilisation of a set of ongoing structures that allow the community to meet its own needs (McArdle 1993, p2). It is about empowering...

Words: 2150 - Pages: 9

Free Essay

Edexcel Politcs

...Mark Scheme (Results) Summer 2010 GCE GCE Government & Politics (6GP03) Paper 3B Edexcel Limited. Registered in England and Wales No. 4496750 Registered Office: One90 High Holborn, London WC1V 7BH Edexcel is one of the leading examining and awarding bodies in the UK and throughout the world. We provide a wide range of qualifications including academic, vocational, occupational and specific programmes for employers. Through a network of UK and overseas offices, Edexcel’s centres receive the support they need to help them deliver their education and training programmes to learners. For further information, please call our GCE line on 0844 576 0025, our GCSE team on 0844 576 0027, or visit our website at www.edexcel.com. If you have any subject specific questions about the content of this Mark Scheme that require the help of a subject specialist, you may find our Ask The Expert email service helpful. Ask The Expert can be accessed online at the following link: http://www.edexcel.com/Aboutus/contact-us/ Summer 2010 Publications Code UA024034 All the material in this publication is copyright © Edexcel Ltd 2010 2 6GP03_3B 1006 General Marking Guidance • All candidates must receive the same treatment. Examiners must mark the first candidate in exactly the same way as they mark the last. Mark schemes should be applied positively. Candidates must be rewarded for what they have shown they can do rather than penalised for omissions. Examiners should mark according...

Words: 4383 - Pages: 18

Premium Essay

How Did the Arts Serve the Soviet State?

...How did the arts serve the Soviet State? The arts had had a different purpose throughout the era of the Soviet State. Nevertheless the Soviet State was wholly under the control of the Soviet System, which Stalin used as an ideology and as a tool to disseminate state polemics. The system was required to suppress the opposition and create social consciousness of an obedient Soviet person. However first it is important to mention that the Soviet State had officially been formed in 1922 and lasted until 1991. And thus the debate concerning the service that the arts had acted upon should start from 1922. The Soviet Art in the early 1920s was relatively pluralistic due to the fact that there were many different schools of thoughts present. There was the avant-garde art, which was considered bourgeois but could not be gotten rid of, due to the fact that the country was still in a state of anarchy. Artists like Salvatore Dali or Pablo Picasso were very popular among soviet artists. (need more info). There was a bigger freedom of expression during the twenties that the artists had not experienced later on. Indeed Anna Akhmatova, a famous Russian author and a poet had said once "To think that the best years of our lives were during the war, when so many people were being killed, when we were starving and my son was doing forced labour.” That patently signifies the extent of control that the artists were under. Moreover her very close friend Boris Pasternak confirmed the...

Words: 1500 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

The Cultural Revolution to Breed the New Chinese Citizen

...The Cultural Revolution lasted for a decade and saw the fragmentation of China only ending after yielding seemingly little benefit to anyone involved. Mao Zedong was foremostly, and most successfully, a revolutionary and much of his life had been spent seeking to fundamentally transform China. Mao’s goal, to form a new strong and prospering China, required the creation of a new national sense of being through the Cultural Revolution. To forge a new society and culture, rid of entrenched feudal ways was considered absolutely necessary with the omnipresent shadow of the New Culture Movement, which had been frustrated by the size of the task. Only a mass movement by the entire nation to reform themselves could succeed. Mao found his answer in the political philosophy of Marx and Lenin whose work he synthesised and altered, eventually focusing on the potentially revolutionary aspects of widespread revolution. Mao made a significant contribution to Marxist philosophy by concluding that in order to keep the results of a revolution in place, the revolution too had to be permanent. Mao launched the Cultural Revolution, motivated by this genuine desire to preserve and protect the revolution by making it impossible for China’s leaders to become comfortable and lead the nation to regress to capitalism. The Communist victory in 1949 and subsequent decade of control saw some slow improvements in the life of the ordinary Chinese, and few leaders of the CCP were adamant that a revolution was...

Words: 3264 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Assess the Contribution of Marxism

...people.” – Karl Marx He is trying to say religion is the drug of people. It’s what keeps them alive in these wretched times. The oppressed creatures are the lower classed people forced to work every day just to feed their families. The heartless world are the capitalist, the selfish rich people who have never labored a day in their life. The soulless conditions therefore become the terrible conditions under which the poor have to work in. Marx is trying to show the system of hierarchy in the quote. Religion is the only thing the poor can hold on to, it can’t be taken away from them. Religion is the escape to find hope and salvation in the sense that one day they don’t have to work under the rich people. Marxism is the theoretical debate on understanding of different classes in society, taking as its starting point the necessary economic activities required by everyday people to provide for their material needs. Engels and zaretskys view will be discussed as well as the new rights, functionalists and Marxist feminists. Friedrich Engels Engels (1820-1895) was a German social scientist as well as becoming the joint father of Marxism. He had his own view of the theory. He argued the nuclear family was born out of the capitalists’ society. Men ultimately had greater control over women. Women were seen as Chattels (the husbands’ property). All land was owned by men. Women practically had nothing but a name. This is why men wanted male heirs, so they could pass down everything to an...

Words: 811 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Bernie Sanders Viewpoints

...of their unpopularity, controversial viewpoints, or bias of sponsors. Senator Bernie Sanders is one of these such candidates, and being a self-declared Democratic socialist, he is a candidate whom the news media would rather ignore. The first Democratic Debate on October 13 (hosted by CNN), Hillary Clinton, being a previous candidate and well-known politician, was promptly declared to have “won” the debate by CNN, despite most focus groups declaring Sanders to be the winner. During the debate, Bernie Sanders made what many considered to be bold, revolutionary statements, such as his belief that college tuition should be nonexistent. Bernie Sanders is the best candidate for President of the United States for 2016 because he will lessen the wealth gap, strive for...

Words: 1148 - Pages: 5