Capitalism, Socialism, Communism & the importance of Karl Marx

Capitalism, Socialism, Communism & the importance of Karl Marx

By Ms. B and Mr. Bond

Broadly Speaking

Remember - Human Nature is all about the stories we tell

Capitalism - The story (idea) that we can produce, distribute and consume things without much need for a strong person or group of people interfering. Free choice is made possible by the Profit Motive. The Laws of Supply and Demand make this a strong story.

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Socialism - The story (idea) that capitalist systems tend to favor investors and those who create and own businesses over the workers. Socialists seek a remedy for the injustice capitalism creates for workers. There are many types of socialists but Karl Marx is the most famous and influential.

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Communism - The story (Idea) of a past or future world where people act more fairly because they understand how and why acting fairly is important. Karl Marx's idea

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Multiple Choice

Capitalism developed as an ideology (a story that people started telling themselves about how best to produce, distribute and consume things) in this time period.

• The 17th and 18th century Europe

• The Ancient World

• The Indian Ocean Trading World

• 5th century China

Multiple Choice

True or False, Capitalism was immediately adopted as the ideal economic system in Europe and it's only been recently that people have started attacking it as a system.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

The man most quoted and given credit for the "discovery" of the story of Capitalism was:

• Karl Marx

• Thomas Jefferson

• George Washington

• Adam Smith

Multiple Choice

True or False, before capitalism was outlined as an idea and formalized in the work of Adam Smith, free trade in the world have never been a reality.

• True

• False

Open Ended

Why is it important to understand that free trade had been a reality in the world before Capitalism was formalized? What idea or story do we suffer from when we think that European society kick started free trade in the 17th and 18th century - what is the danger of a single story narrative? The video attached to this question may help you answer this question.

Multiple Select

Which laws helped define how the "invisible hand" of free trade works in market places that have very little if any restrictions?

• The Law of Supply

• The Law of Greed

• The Law of Simplicity

• The Law of Demand

Multiple Select

Which of the following laws of free trade help us better understand why successful business people out perform less than successful business people? (there may be more than one right answer)

• The Law of Division of Labor (when workers can work on an assembly line they can produce much more in less time)

• The Law of Specialization (when workers can specialize in what they are good at they can be more productive and efficient)

• The Law of Greed (when workers can get paid a lot for their work they will work harder and better)

• The Law of Reinvestment (when owners resist spending their profits on pointless things and reinvest their profits in the business they create more competitive businesses)

​https://youtu.be/z_TTYd6yIYI

Multiple Choice

What is the goal of socialism?

• When a business does well the workers should receive MOST of the rewards?

• When a business does well the workers should receive ALL of the rewards?

• When a business does well the workers should receive SOME of the rewards?

• When a business does well the workers should not have to work as long and hard the next time.

​When a business does well the workers should receive most of the rewards?

​https://youtu.be/z_TTYd6yIYI

Multiple Select

Which of the following outlines various forms of socialist policy within a capitalist society?

• When a company shares wealth directly though making workers the owners (A cooperative)

• When large companies are nationalized and regulated by govt to make sure that they take care of workers and society.

• When government takes over ALL companies and redistributes the profits for the benefit of the workers.

• When a government taxes private companies and uses tax revenue to provide all citizens with important benefits like free schools, hospitals and public transportation.

​https://youtu.be/z_TTYd6yIYI

Multiple Select

Which of the following political movements (actual marxist "communist" political parties) grew out of the ideas and writings of Karl Marx? (there can be more than one right answer here.

• A marxist party that wanted violent revolution and the development of an absolutist communist state that would forcibly foster equality at any expense.

• A marxist party that wanted to replace the entire capitalist system with an entirely new way of running the economy.

• A marxist party that called itself "social democratic" and wanted to balance capitalist tendencies with socialist reform.

• A marxist party that wanted to strengthen capitalism by giving the state total control of capitalism.

​https://youtu.be/z_TTYd6yIYI

Open Ended

What did you learn about socialism that you did not know? What do you want to know more about?

​https://youtu.be/TMmDebW_OBI

Multiple Choice

Karl Marx, one of the most important socialists, argued that the goal of a just society should be which of the following?

• To restrict freedom so that everyone would be equal.

• To create an economic system that distributed wealth equally.

• To empower a few people to control the masses so that everything runs smoothly in the world.

• None of the following capture what Marx was arguing.

Multiple Choice

Karl Marx was born and grew up in which country below?

• England

• Russia

• China

• Germany

Multiple Choice

Communism has not been very successful as a political system in the world. But today Karl Marx still matters because of which of the following?

• There are more people living in poverty today than when Marx lived.

• There is still a staggering amount of economic inequality in the world.

• Capitalism has failed to solve the problem of boom and bust economics which still haunts free societies.

• There are quite a few very successful communist states that have created more freedom and financial success for their people.

Next class we will study Karl Marx in more depth, but until then it's important to point out why his ideas still matter. Check this excellent source out

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Why inequality is still a BIG problem in the world

Why Karl Marx Still Matters

Draw

Draw how you are feeling about what you just learned.