Will Socialism Ever Work

Rhea Singh

20th Century History

Block 4

Unit: Money, Work, and Policy

A Successful Economy Is A Blend Of Socialism And Capitalism

Can Socialism Ever Work?

Throughout history, countries have always been trying to find the perfect form of economy. Different countries have tried capitalism, communism, and socialism.[1] Socialism has always been a topic of debate. There is considerable evidence that socialism will not work as a pure form but when incorporated with capitalism, it will create the ultimate economy. Between 1815 to 1848, Karl Marx published his book, the Communist Manifesto, in which he said that socialism is the right choice and capitalism will eventually collapse on itself.[2] Socialism is a form of an economic system, a political development, and a social theory. The idea of socialism is that the government owns all the country’s wealth and resources and distributes them evenly among the citizens thus eliminating poverty and class divisions.[3] Capitalism is a different form of economy, which counters many of the socialist ideas. Capitalism is an economic system based on the rights of individuals which includes property rights. The economy is separated from the state under capitalism.[4] Capitalism is the system of laissez faire, which means the government has no power over businesses.[5] A few countries throughout the world have adopted both socialist and capitalist ideas, but it has lead them to successful economies. In the past, countries have tried to convert their government to a socialist society; unfortunately, these attempts were not all successes. In the course of history, the development of the culture of capitalism has changed money and how it is managed. The outcome is that only a few, large organizations control most of the wealth and are able to command the social, political, economic, and cultural aspects of life. However, socialism allows a nation’s wealth to be distributed equally. Therefore, the society is based on cooperation...