The seed of the capitalist system in the United States of America was not planted in America itself as many believe. The concept of American capitalism was cultivated between the cultivation of the American government back in the 1700s and the coming in of the founding fathers. Capitalism was not preordained and simply came from another flourishing continent, Europe around the 16th century. To clarify, capitalism is an economic system in which a country’s trade, industry, and profits are controlled by private companies, instead of by the people whose time and labor powers those companies. The United States and many other nations around the world are capitalist countries, but capitalism is not the only economic system available; throughout history, other countries have embraced other systems, like socialism or communism, so it’s essential to understand the differences. Characteristics of capitalism include, a market-based economy made up of buyers (people) and sellers (private or corporate-owned companies), the goods and services that are produced are intended to make a profit, and this profit is reinvested into the economy, the government should not interfere in the economies of the free market, meaning, the market determines investments, production, distribution and decisions, and government interference is only allowed when making and enforcing rules or policies governing the conduct of business and there is a need for constant production and purchase for a capitalistic economy to operate efficiently. As for socialism it is an economic system where the means of production are socially owned. The “means of production” being the raw materials, factories, and machines used to make goods. There are two kinds of systems, socialism itself and democratic socialism. Democratic socialism focuses on the means of production to be socially owned, and that said ownership weave in large amounts of democratic management. This normally involves things like worker’s cooperatives or publicly owned enterprises that both workers and consumers help manage. To bring a clearer view to this window of the political world, I decided to ask my father, Rafael a few pondering questions seeing as he was born and raised in the midst of socialism’s rising in Cuba during Fidel Castros’ position.
We begin discussing what the significance of each term means to him. “Being in the United States for more than thirty years has made me understand that capitalism is a system where everything is produced and executed based on the contributions of each person”. As for socialism he states that it is,” a system based on the equality of society. The power of the government over society with total control over what they do or say”. He does not waste time rambling on about concepts but rather tells me how they both do not compare and are distinctively different. “Socialism is controlled by a government based on radical ideas of society while a capitalistic society can have their own beliefs and ideas. You can develop yourself based on personal beliefs, intelligence, ideals, choose governments and debate political ideas freely based on the position of democracy, which is the root of capitalism”. Socialism has been a back and forth topic for many years on what it projects onto its people and as to what the true mechanisms are to a socialist country. Since the mid-fifties, the term socialism has unraveled itself in to branches of democratic socialism, Marxism, and communism. However, Rafael clears it up by stating that socialism is simply a mild form of ruling birthed by communism. I ask him if he thinks a capitalist country could ever become socialist and vice versa? His response, “Capitalist: no because it already has its bases of a capitalist country. It already consumes and produces with the capital mentality. The society is already accustomed and have their own way of living and have their imbedded beliefs. Socialism could be introduced, but the people are not prepared for a total control of government. Socialism: Of course, it can covert to Capitalism because man is willing to accept any form of progress that is any better than a government that doesn’t provide nor care for the people or society. Man is made for production and progress and therefore welcomes idealistic productivity and beneficial advancements as long the government is not involved in telling people how to behave or to live. Humans are willing to do the best for themselves and are always looking towards the future. It is better to take a chance than to stay still unproductively”. Both systems are neither great nor totally terrible, but we can all agree that a country without guidance will be a country filled with destruction.