Socialism and capitalism - Essay Example

Socialism and Capitalism Capitalism is the system of the economy that is based on the private and corporate ownership of the production and the distribution of goods. Capitalism has been in existence since the 16th century. Capitalists are people who favor a system that is of free enterprise, which means the, government, should not intervene in the growth of the economy of the nation and individuals who are running the economy. The capitalists say the laws of the demand and supply will ensure that the economy system run efficiently to be able to meet the needs of the people.

Capitalism is usually characterized by the competition whereby there is rivalry in the supplying of the goods and services and the acquiring of the goods and services. The producers compete with other producers of the same category; the distributors compete with other distributors for the sale of property, goods, and services. The buyers of the goods and services also compete with other buyers to acquire the services and the goods at a favorable price for themselves. The sellers of the quality and services also compete with other people in their category to sell their products and service at prices that are favorable.

At the same period be able to make favorable profits for their companies. This allows people, who use the capitalism ideology to fight for themselves, and one of the involved parties can get hurt, but they will not be allowed to complain because there are no regulatory authorities involved in this ideology. Capitalism gave rise to industrialism since people wanted to start doing productions and they could not rely on the governing body to create industries that could be of use to them (Navarro, 2011 p65).

On the other hand, Socialism is an idea whereby the government or the regulatory authority implements rules that govern the planning of the economy of the nation, the production of the goods and services and even the distribution ruled of the goods and services produced in the nation or imported in to the country. The ideology of Socialism contrasts the idea of capitalism considerably since capitalism is all about free markets where property is privately owned, and the owners are able to determine the prices of the goods and services produced, while socialism favors cooperation and the prices of the goods and services are standardized (Ferrante, 2012 p87).

Socialism and its ideologies came up in the 18th century to respond to the industrial revolution where the owners of the industries were becoming richer, and the workers of the industries were becoming poorer because they were being denied their rights. The employees of the industries wanted to have shares in the industries that they were working in, but they could not be allowed by their employers who wanted all the wealth to themselves. This created the rise of communism which was based on the ideologies of Marx and Engels.

Communism was a theory that came up to struggle and advocate for equality among every person in the society and ensure that every person is unexploited. Communism therefore meant that the government had to take strong measures to ensure that they were able to control the economy of the country and that the people were not exploited by the industry owners. This in turn, has ensured that there is equity in sharing of resources (Ferrante, 2012 p68).ReferencesFerrante, J. (2012). Sociology: A Global Perspective.

Connecticut,: Cengage Learning.Navarro, A. (2011). Global Capitalist Crisis and the Second Great Depression: Egalitarian Systemic Models for Change. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.