Burlington High
School
Burlington, Kansas
Teacher: Devra Parker
Capitalism
By Tyler Ellis
12th grade
Self
made and privately owned business, free elections; these are the characteristics
of a capitalistic form of government. State and government-owned business and
no privatization of property, prime examples of a socialist style of
government. Which one does the U.S. fall under? Does the United States have a
more socialist style or is it a specimen of capitalism?
While
many people argue that our government is more socialist because the government
basically makes most of the decisions, it is my belief that the United States is
more capitalistic than socialistic.
The United States is based upon a free economy. Not one where the government has complete and total control of every aspect of business. A prime example would be Bill Gates and his company Microsoft. Microsoft was a self made business which is now a billion dollar corporation that helps benefit our economy. In a socialist economy, this would not happen. The government alone would have control of the company, and Bill Gates would never see a dime for what he created. But, because we live in a capitalist society, Bill Gates has a self made business and he gets to receive the benefits from it.
If the
United States was socialist, then we would not be where we are today,
economically speaking. I’m not saying that our economy is just outstanding
right now because it isn’t. We are trillions in debt and the economy is a
little slow right now, but it could be worse. If we were ruled by a socialist
economy, then we would probably look like China or the old Soviet Union before
it crumbled. Instead of having a few thousand people jobless, there could be
millions homeless. Also there would be a lot less jobs and businesses here.
In my
eyes, a socialistic world is one of grey. Thus means everyone is the same.
Everyone has to do the same thing; everyone is working for the government and
not for themselves.
If we
were socialist, every kid who ever went to school would go there and learn the
same lessons as everyone else. This is true to some aspect because we all do
pretty much learn the same things while in grade school, but when we reach high
school and college, we, as individuals, have the right to choose what kind of
things we want to learn. We have the right to choose what we want to be
educated about and we have the right to make a career out of that education.
This is
why I don’t think that the United States can be put under the category of
socialism. Everyone in this country is different. We are all after the same
goal which is trying to make a living, but we are all different. We all work
different jobs and make different amounts of money at those jobs. We can make
millions of dollars within the year or we can barely make enough to get by.
People can create their own businesses, and anybody can work for those
businesses. We don’t have to be stuck with one job that could consist of
picking crops by hand out of a field, unless we choose to do so.
In this
country there are a variety of jobs from which we can choose. This is partly
because in this country, we have the right to start our own business. This
creates many job opportunities for people. We can work at a car dealership or
cook hamburgers at McDonalds. The choice is up to us. That’s why this country
is capitalist. It is our individual right to decide our future, and no one has
the right to decide it for us.
Thus,
this is why I believe the United States of America is more capitalist than it is
socialist. This country was founded on a government for the people and by the
people, and not the other way around. In today’s society it is our goal to grow
up as individuals and make soul decisions that affect our lives. People of this
country work for themselves and not for the government. They go to their jobs
day after day to make a living for their own personal benefit and for their
family’s benefit, not for the governments. Now don’t get me wrong, the
government does own a lot of our lives in this country. They own a lot of
businesses and they have the right to take our property in times of eminent
domain. In the case of eminent domain, however, one must receive just
compensation for his or her property; the government cannot just up and take
ones land for nothing at all. In my point of view this is another example of
why the United States
is a capitalist country.
Answers To Questions Prompted By The Required Reading
Seven Principles of
Sound Public Policy
Q1- What does Mr.
Reed mean when he says "Equal people are not free."?
A: He is saying that if we had an equal amount of income it would be impossible to enforce because it would be telling people not to succeed. Basically limiting the people of money and not allowing them to be free.
Q2- What is the
deadly trade-off to reliance upon government, according to Reed?
A: Basically it saying that if everyone depended on the government then it would have too much power and it would be more like a communism type of government.
The Calf of Democracy
Q3- Why did the
Founding Fathers assure that the United States became a republic rather than a
pure democracy?
A: So that the country could make decisions on its own rather than asking the people for advice on everything. If it was a pure democracy we would never get anything done but maybe make bills. If we had a pure democracy not everyone would agree.
Q4- What is the saving grace of democracy according to Lawrence Reed?
A: According to Lawrence Reed the saving grace of democracy is the 1st 10 amendments to the constitution which is the bill of rights.
Freedom Is Not a
Doctrine
Q5- Richard Haas
gives two unusual reasons for advocating democracy. What are they?
A: He states that they
are not always peaceful. Immature democracies, or ones that hold elections but
lack checks and balances are particularly vulnerable to being hijacked by
popular demand. Serbia is a prime example. It is very difficult to spread
democracy. In order to put something better in its place, you have to oust the
old form. Such convincing would take lots of time, effort, and maybe even lives.
As Iraq demonstrates with the rise of modern nationalism proves that
opportunities will be rare, despite an investment of billions of dollars and
thousands of lives.
Q6- Give two reasons you
personally would promote democracy.
A: Promoting of democracy is
important because I believe that it sends out the right message to less
civilized nations. It gives each individual of the state a say in the
government, which promotes freedom and represents the country as a whole. It is
my belief that since they are the ones that make up the country, then they
should decide how it is run. Backing democracy also helps protect people from
unfair restrictions and ruling. If we didn’t have a standard form of government,
we would never get anything done. Nothing would be enforced, and other people
could come into our nation and rule. In situations such as the current one in
Iraq,
we need to keep doing what it takes to instate democracy, no matter what the
costs are. The situation could compare to the drug war, although they maybe
never completely done away with, it is still a battle we should fight.
Q7- Comment (any length) on President Bush's current foreign policy.
A: While the nature of
other societies should always be a foreign policy consideration, and cannot
always be the foreign policy. Trying to ensure democracy may work for a while in
some cases, but once the official’s time has come, he might do away with the
democratic process to maintain power. Such an individual would include Hitler.
This just ends up costing our government our money and time, even though it is
trying to promote the right idea. As stated in the required reading, you have to
convince the majority of the people from the government they have lived with,
and get them to go along with something entirely new that they may not believe
will work. In some cases, like the Israeli and Palestinian conflict that has
been occurring since the day Israel was recognized in 1948, the democratic
foreign policy may not work.
Q8- How did you interpret
each of the four different hats ("officials with fine hats")?
A: My interpretation of the four hats was that they were four different types of leaders. The hats were symbols of how they rule their people.
Q9- How did you interpret the megaphone, baby, knife/gun ("No matter how officials are selected")?
A: My interpretation of the megaphone was that it was a symbol of power. I think that the baby was a symbol of growth and development as a leader and the knife was a symbol of force used.
Q10- Browse the "Favorite Links" of the Economic Freedom Network http://www.freetheworld.com/other.html and share one of your favorite discoveries with us. Make sure you copy the url. Tell us why you chose it.
A: I think it is very interesting that North Korea has hardly any economic freedom due to the fact that the country is completely ruled by dictatorship.
Q11- Once again go to www.freetheworld.com and this time note the question asked near the top of the page: "How much economic freedom exists in your country?" and randomly choose five countries. List the name of each and their highest and lowest year for economic freedom.
A: Argentina in 1975 had
its lowest with 3.4, its highest was in 2000 when it had 7.2. Brazil had its
lowest with 3.6 in 1985 and in 2002 it was the highest at 6.1. China’s lowest
was in 1980 where it had 4.0 and its highest was in the year 2003 where it had
6.0. Germany’s low was in 1975 when it had 6.7 and was highest in 2000 with 7.6.
Columbia had its lowest in 1980 with 4.7 and it was highest in 2001 with 5.5.
Q12- Which of your five
countries had the greatest degree of economic freedom according to this
exercise?
A: Germany with 7.5 had the greatest degree of economic freedom.
Q13- What was the summary
rating and rank in the year it achieved this degree of economic freedom?
(You can find this information by clicking on the
Economic Freedom of the World: 2004 Annual Report and then choosing
Chapter 3 and scrolling to your chosen country.)
A: 19 0f 127