We’ve all heard of capitalism and socialism, but do we even know what those words mean? After asking a marketing major what capitalism and socialism were, and hearing that her answer was “how should I know?”, I was deeply concerned. 

I decided to conduct a survey for students at Oakton about socialist and communist societies.  Most didn’t know the real definition of either,  but from those who did one surveyor said socialism “seems to be a bit more reliable and reasonable” 

 Before all my research I felt that capitalism was working pretty well, but socialism was too restrictive. My views changed after a while, and here’s why.

A capitalist society is the one we live in today, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The rich find ways to pay the least amount of taxes. For example, not to name any names but, a billionaire that only paid $750 in federal taxes. While for the poor, they live in the streets and shop from the dollar store.

 A capitalist society is where trade and products are owned by private companies and monopolies. In order for a capitalist society to work you need cheap labor and classism. 

A socialist society is on the opposite side of the spectrum, trade and products are owned by communities and the government, and distributed based on needs. This provides everyone with their basic needs like housing, food, and healthcare. It eliminates societal greed. 

Socialism’s end goal is to eliminate classism and provide everyone with basic needs. It doesn’t deprive a person of opportunity due to their financial situation, which means high-quality education for everyone. 

Socialism limits business ownership and entrepreneurship,  while capitalism encourages ‘the American dream’. Both flawed economic societies, with completely different terms.

I’ve concluded at the end of my research that the economy is more than just a label, for instance, both China and Sweden are socialist societies. One under dictatorship and inhumane practices and the other known to be one of the happiest countries in the world. It’s all about perspective too, Jeff Bezos would most likely be more interested in capitalism while a low-income single mother working three jobs would do anything for her children to have equal opportunities and a great education. 

At the end of the day, a society where everyone can prosper not at the expense of any human is an ideal society.