Assignment
One of the major issues we face in this country (and many other countries) is a lack of clarity among the general population in regard to the difference between an economic system and a political system. As a result many people incorrectly believe that capitalism must go together with more democratic forms of government and socialism must go together with more authoritarian forms of government. Beyond this confusion, most people who talk about their love or hate for either capitalism or socialism have a hard time clearly defining either system (meaning that many people are actually imagining fundamentally different things when arguing about economic systems, and may actually agree with one another if they took the time to define the terms being used in their argument.
Consistent with the confusion about capitalism and socialism described above, many/most people also don't realize that communism has arguably never been implemented on a large scale based on the definition from The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels. In an oversimplified nutshell, Marx and Engels imagined that capitalism would provide enough wealth to implement socialism, and that people would get along so well in the context of socialism that the state would eventually "wither away" to allow for communism (meaning no authoritarian government of any kind would be needed). This is interesting to consider since countries like the Soviet Union and China that have been described as being "communist" by many people actually had/have very powerful and authoritarian central governments (the exact opposite of the state withering away). Given the perspective provided by all of recorded human history, I am certainly among those who have a hard time imagining that humans could get along incredibly well in the absence of any organizing body (also known as a government) created to coordinate common defense, infrastructure, and other public goods at a minimum (meaning I don't expect we'll ever see a situation in which the state withers/fades away, and therefore believe we should focus on choosing the most beneficial of the available forms of government and workable economic policies when possible).
While confusion about political and economic systems clearly doesn't contribute to a healthier democracy in the United States, it also leaves many US politicians, business leaders, and others ill-prepared to have serious discussions regarding the mixed economic system we have in the United States, and also ill-prepared to more effectively respond to economic changes over time (like most wealthier countries, the United States has used a mix of capitalist policies and socialist policies for many decades, and social programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Unemployment Insurance tend to be very popular with many/most conservatives and liberals in the United States).
Task
A. Describe and/or list some of the different ways capitalism is defined (ideally at least two or three), identify the definition that seems most accurate to you, and explain why it seems most accurate.
B. Describe and/or list some of the different ways socialism is defined (ideally at least two or three), identify the definition that seems most accurate to you, and explain why it seems most accurate?
C. What are some key differences between capitalism and socialism that you found (based on the definitions that seem most accurate to you)?
D. What are some differences between the authoritarian and centrally planned version of socialism that was used in the Soviet Union (USSR) and the so-called "democratic socialism" that is practiced in Sweden and some other Western European countries (as a hint, some would argue that what happens in Sweden is better described as "capitalism with strong social safety nets" when compared with the Soviet Union)?
E. Based on your brief research, did you end up learning anything new about capitalism and/or socialism that you didn't know before? If so, what did you learn that you didn't know before? If not, what are some of the key parts of your previous understanding that were highlighted and/or reinforced by the brief research you completed?