We were able to do a fun activity which really helped me to better understand the concept of capitalism in comparison with communism, and socialism. In class, we were each given a specific amount of Hershey Kisses chocolates, and some people were given more than others. At first we were not sure what to do with them, or what they were going to be used for to tie into the lesson. Then, Mrs. Gallagher told us to get up and walk around the room playing rock-paper-scissors with different people, and if we won we would receive one of the loser's chocolates. This game was very frustrating for me the first round that we played because I lost every single piece of candy I had and I was one of the first people out of the game. It was also frustrating because some people were given more candy than everyone else; Abby and Travis were each given 10 pieces. But, it was also very fun because I got to try again later and I won much more candy that time. In the end, everyone's candy was collected and we were all given three pieces. The purpose of this lesson was to really help us be able to understand the different sides and why people supported capitalism, socialism, and communism. The uneven playing field with some people being given more candy than others represented unequal opportunity, with some people starting out with more advantages than others they're competing against (capitalism). The aspect of competition and being able to compete with others for your "riches" also represented capitalism, the winners and losers of rock-paper-scissors representing the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Communism was represented when Mrs. Gallagher, representing the government regulating the economy, took all of our candy and spread it evenly throughout everyone, similarly to how the government took the money from the people under a communist government, and spread it out evenly among their people.
Although Marx and Smith both wanted to help the poor in creating their theories about how the economy should be run, they had very different ideas about how to get there. Karl Marx, the man who created the ideals behind socialism/communism, wanted to help the poor by trying to create a classless society. He believed that the poor would benefit by having a classless society because they would be given the same opportunity as everyone else, and the playing field would be more even. However, Adam Smith took a different approach, and his theory of the "invisible hand" said that the flow of commerce and trade would help the poor because it provided them with higher quality goods at lower quality prices, giving them the opportunity to buy things they wouldn't have had the chance to before.
Embedded is a link to Karl Marx's biography which may help explain why Marx wanted to create the ideals for communism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16IMc5mhbZk&feature=youtu.be
I believe that Smith's "invisible hand theory" is the best. It allows people to be able to work for their wealth, and not have all that they've worked hard for taken from them. But, it also gives people who wouldn't have the opportunity in other cases the chance to be able to succeed and have options in what they buy and how they spend their money.
Explanation of the "Invisible Hand Theory": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulyVXa-u4wE&feature=youtu.be
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