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David Garcia

Mrs. Tubbs

English 1301-054

July 23rd, 2020

A Society Cannot and Should Not Function on Pure Forms of Capitalism or Communism

Democratic governments are typically thought of to have been made for the people who

are a part of it. Capitalism and Communism are both forms of government, and each could

decide to be Democratic or Tyrannical; I will be discussing the two interchangeably between the

types. The two ideologies can seem polarizing, however they don’t have to be separate entities;

To me, they are two parts of the solution to move society forward in a way that can help

everyone progress in a positive way.

Capitalism is a society in which people are allowed to fail or succeed based on their own

merits. Communism is a society in which everyone believes that all people are truly important

and have value to add to society. However great they sound in definition, they both have their

pitfalls and extremes.

The appeal to Capitalism is the “reward system” that involves currency flowing amongst

people to purchase necessary goods. The issue with Capitalism is that most of the currency

gathers amongst those that have already acquired wealth, much like a generational relay race

those that are ahead tend to stay ahead. The appeal to Communism is that it fixes the

aforementioned issue with Capitalism -- in that there is no stagnant currency, they have

confidence in their constituents to progress their society without a Win/Fail system. The issue

with Communism is the “human” one, the belief is that humans are unable to make a society
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thrive without some form of punishment or reward towards their individual production; Which of

course is imperative in keeping a civilization thriving.

In pure Capitalism, the government’s whole purpose is to give control to businesses to

decide how to govern. Capitalism admires those who are already rich, and has a disdain for

people who are poor. In “late stage” Capitalism, slavery is legal -- the rich rule over the poor

class, there is no middle class; Slaves die of starvation and there is fammine.

In pure Communism, the government controls the means and products of labor, and

dispenses it out equally among its citizens. Communism admires those that are committed to

making it succeed, and has a disdain for people who are opposed. In “late stage” Communism

resources become scarce and hard to disperse amongst its citizens, Communist opposers raid

rations and stockpile them to further the deficit.

“To be sure, there has never been a fully free economy. By that measure, both

communism and capitalism refer to ideals that have never existed in practice.”[1] Yes, it is true

that “pure Capitalism” and “pure Communism” have never actually been implemented

successfully by any real world country. Even America, the poster child of Capitalism, isn’t full

on unfettered Capitalism because just like its government; Its economy needs checks and

balances. In addition, all examples of “Communist” countries have all had some form of

currency. (Russia has the Rupple, China has the Renminbi even North Korea has the Won) It’s

not realistic to expect a government to represent all its constituents so you need to have one that

meets it somewhere in the middle to compromise and appeal to a more general audience.

Luckily, we can reject the bad ideas, and accept good ideas from both government types

in a way that can truly advance humankind. The idea of Socialism is a version of Capitalism that

ensures through government means that businesses and wealthy people pay taxes in order to
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facilitate government programs that help poor and impoverished people. There are different

levels of Socialism however, governments can choose to tax the rich at different levels and the

laws are constantly changing. This year the US taxed the wealthiest at 37%, that’s almost half

compared to the 1970’s - 80’s. [2] Governments can also decide where to allocate the money, a

more socialist government would allocate resources into more government programs; Whereas

less socialist governments would cut taxes and put money back into rich people’s hands. The less

resources available to the masses the more the government fails to carry out its basic task. We

must invest more in such programs in the US because wealth inequalities are at an all time high.

“Wealth is distributed in a highly unequal fashion, with the wealthiest 1 percent of families in the

United States holding about 40 percent of all wealth and the bottom 90 percent of families

holding less than one-quarter of all wealth.2 (See Figure 1.) Notably, 25 percent of families have

less than $10,000 in wealth.” [3] . So when a country becomes too Capitalist, it starts failing, just

as when a country becomes too Communist.

In summary, neither Communism or Capitalism are the answer to life’s true challenges

amongst people. Neither can fully fulfill the needs of humanity that allow human existence to

thrive and flourish. So in that regard as well they are the same.

Citations
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[1] Tupy, Marian L. “Bernie Is Not a Socialist and America Is Not Capitalist.” Cato Institute, 2

Mar. 2016, www.cato.org/publications/commentary/bernie-not-socialist-america-not-capitalist.

[2] “How Do Federal Income Tax Rates Work?” Tax Policy Center, May 2020,

www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-do-federal-income-tax-rates-work.

[3] Leiserson, Greg, et al. “The Distribution of Wealth in the United States and Implications for a

Net Worth Tax.” Equitable Growth, 26 Sept. 2019, equitablegrowth.org/the-distribution-of-

wealth-in-the-united-states-and-implications-for-a-net-worth-tax/.