Communism vs. Capitalism. My Ideal Government System Essay

Communism vs. Capitalism. My Ideal Government System - Essay Example The essay also shows the opinions of prominent figures of politics and economy regarding each government system. Both systems are compared on the basis of education, economy, employment and health standards. The bibliography comprises 6 sources. The most recent one published 2010. Introduction. Communism is a form of government where the resources and the means of production are controlled by the society and the government is headed by one party or the communist party. It was an idea developed by Karl Marx and supported by Stalin and others. For Marx, an ideal government was the one that ensured equality to all members of society without classes. Before then, the economy was controlled by the businessmen and factory owners commonly referred as bourgeoisies whose aim was to make a profit at the expense of the poor farmers who were referred as the proletariat. Capitalism, on the other hand, is characterized by the existence of classes in the society. The means of production is controlled by private individuals who own private property and the government is democratic in nature. The market forces determine what is to be produced and who is to consume the products depending on the wealth of individuals. The private owners thus make huge profits and invest it in machinery and more business investments while the poor continue being poor as they can’t afford to buy goods. A wide gap, therefore, exists between the rich and the poor in the society (Grant & Vidler, 19-25). Communist government is thus preferred as it reduces inequalities and classes in the society and is effective in transforming backward economies. A capitalist system of government is a free market economy where price of products is determined by market forces. The market also allocates the resources to members of society depending on one’s income. The government does not intervene in controlling the prices. In this situation, the owners of property whose aim is to maximize profit may set high prices for products or make goods unavailable so as to control demand and in turn raise prices. The poor consumers are therefore forced to cut consumption of some goods as they cannot afford leaving them to the rich t hus widening the gap between the rich and the poor. Inflation is inevitable due to rise and fall in prices of goods and services (Grant & Vidler, 22). On the other hand, a communist system of government is controlled by the state. It is a command economy where prices are determined by the government thus inflation is controlled. The state also distributes goods and services equally to the society (Schwartz, 292). The resources are distributed according to needs of each individual hence no chance of creating income and wealth inequalities in society; it exercises fairness and equality. The capitalist system is driven by self interest of the actors in the economy. Due to profit maximization objective by businessmen, they are not able to provide essential goods and services that do not make profit such as education and health (Grant, 6). On the other hand, the communist state is involved in provision of resources to all. It thus provides public and merit goods to the society among othe r goods hence individuals in a communist economy benefit from improved public transport, education, and health among others (Leslie, 223). The state also subsidizes basic foodstuffs thus making them affordable to all members of the society unlike in capitalist states where one’s income determines the bundle of goods to buy. Schwartz (292) argues that individuals in a communist state work according to ability. Thus, each individual who is of working age is given a job depending on the skills he/she possesses but the resources obtained are shared among the society according to the needs of each household. The economy hence operates at near or full employment, unemployment