Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism

       Today in history class, we did an activity on communism since we are learning about 3 different systems of ruling; capitalism, communism, and socialism.  During the activity, we were all given a certain amount of Hershey kisses.  The majority of the class got 3 candies but I was lucky and got 10 candies.  A few other students also got 10 candies.  This was to separate the rich from the poor.  After receiving our candies, we all went against different people and played rock paper scissors.  If you won, you received a candy; if you lost you gave the person a candy.  Once all of your candies were gone, you had to sit down.  In the end, I had 19 Hershey kisses while others had a lot less or even none.  Then, Mrs. Gallagher took everyone's candy and gave everyone 3 Hershey kisses to show what Communism was.  I was aggravated because I went from 19 Hershey kisses to 3 but others were happy because they had candy again.  I enjoyed the activity but I was also frustrated that I ended with 3 candies instead of 19.

Hershey kiss cartoon 


      During our lesson, we looked at two different figures that wanted to change the way systems of government worked in order to help the poor.  First, a man named Karl Marx (the father of Marxism) developed a theory in which he believed would result in communism for the society.  Marx believed that if the people were left to do what they wanted, society would go through capitalism to socialism and finally it would end in communism.  This would benefit the poor because with communism, it would be a classless society, and everything would be available to everyone.  There would be no "rich" or "poor".  The other man, Adam Smith, developed the Invisible Hand theory.  Smith believed that governments should leave people alone to buy and sell things freely among themselves.  If a store is charging less than you, you will have to lower the price as well because the people will want to go to that other store that sells items for cheaper.  In the end, the stores would be selling high quality things at low prices which helps the poor because they will be able to afford them.

Link to video on Karl Marx: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16IMc5mhbZk&feature=youtu.be  

 Link to video on Adam Smith's "The Invisible Hand": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulyVXa-u4wE&feature=youtu.be


        Both of these theories seem very creative and well thought up.  Clearly, both men cared about the poor and wanted things to be fair for everyone.  To choose which system I think was better is very difficult.  Both of the systems allow the society to have a little freedom.  However, I think that Marx's theory is better because it is more intricate and makes the people have to work together, not against each other.  Overall, the Hershey Kisses activity was very interesting and tasty!