Impact of the Communism Collapse on Countries` Economic Systems - Essay Example

February 13, 2007 Discuss the impact that the collapse of the communism had on economic systems Communism can be seen as a theory and a system of both political and social organization that has had a great impact on the world through most of the twentieth century. There are many different definitions of communism. Miskelly and Noce defined it as "A political, economic and social theory that promotes common ownership of property for the use of all citizens, all profits are to be equally distributed and prices on goods and services are usually set by the state" (Miskelly & Noce, 410). In theory communism should create a classless society and freedom, in which all people would enjoy equal economic status. That may be a theory of what communism should be like but in practice the government cared little for the working class citizens and only wanted to preserve their own power. As quoted by Michael Novak's "The Silent Artillery of Communism" deals with communism's destruction of one of the most important aspects of life in a thriving society-human capital, specifically as it affects the economic world. For communism, there is in man no internal source of dignity" and that "it destroyed the human capital on which a free economy and polity are based." 1 There are a variety of economic systems today, which can influence how prosperous we will be as individuals or as a group. Socialism is an economic system where the government will be greatly involved in the economy. In a socialist economy the government can control many industries, provide public institutions such as health care and education, and equalize incomes of the population. A socialist economy is one of low unemployment and stability, where the government sets production quotas and price regulation upon their perception of the needs of the economy. There is a great advantage of living in a nation where there is a low amount of government intervention in the economy, because government intervention reduces the freedom of markets, causes a slow growing economy, and exploits the consumers in the economy. The immediate cause of the Soviet collapse was economic, as the Soviet Union lost the arms race and international competition with the West. The United States was able to profit from its imperialist exploitation of other countries, while socialism could only lose economically in that competition. Economic factors were linked to political and psychological factors. 1 Aerospace Power Journal - spring 2001.pp 100-113 As the Soviet economist Latsis said at the time, "the gloomy background of the worsening market situation ... has a depressing effect on people." Now that the Soviet Union, with its centralized political and economic system, has ceased to exist, the fifteen newly formed independent countries which emerged in its aftermath are faced with an overwhelming task. They must develop their economies, reorganize their political systems, and, in many cases, settle bitter territorial disputes. A number of wars have developed on the peripheries of the former Soviet Union. Additionally, the entire region is suffering a period of severe economic hardship. Democracy is a political model and communism is an economic one. By the beginning of the 21st cent. traditional Communist party dictatorships held power only in China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. China, Laos, Vietnam, and, to a lesser degree, Cuba have reduced state control of the economy in order to stimulate growth. Although economic reform has been allowed in these countries, their Communist parties have proved unwilling to submit to popular democratic movements. The policies of most Communist Parties in both Eastern and Western Europe had been governed by the example of the Soviet Union. Communist economic system is associated with an authoritarian government system, which means that a government elite enhances its economic, judicial and political freedoms and suppresses those who are led by them. There is no theoretical reason for communism to be associated with authoritarianism, but in fact it is and has always been that way. Democratic-communistic societies have always been very small and very short-lived. Communist economy often focus on the core tenets of socialism but worlds economy only refers to their taking a position of doubt. There is a difference between the democracy economy and and communism economy. Communism was a reaction to the early stages of the capitalistic disruption of patterns of traditional work and the exploitation of workers in the new pattern. With the Cold War over, politicians, economists and others have been promoting unfettered free trade and free market ideology, pushing it to an even wider international arena to facilitate international trade. Since the Cold War has ended, it is almost no surprise that today's globalization has come in the form we see it - that is where it would have been had the Cold War not got "in the way". The World Wars were related to expanding trade avenues and holding on to them. Throughout the Cold War, there contained a global threat to market democracies: now we should seek to enlarge their reach. (Anthony Lake 71) The need for market-oriented reforms of the former communist economies has by now been generally accepted by virtually everyone involved in the running of those economies, and no longer only by Western advisers and their local 'economic-rationalist' disciples. Various factors such as political decisions, military might, wars, imperial processes and social changes throughout the last few decades and centuries have pulled the world system in various directions. Today's world is based on 'Global Politics and Economics.' Work cited Anthony Lake, ed., A Documentary History of Communism (2 vol., rev. ed. 1998); M. Beer, The General History of Socialism and Social Struggles ( 1997); L. Schapiro, The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (2002); Miskelly & Noce. The Idea of Communism in the 20th Century (1999). Lee Edwards. The Collapse of Communism Hoover Institution Press. Stanford University, Stanford, California . January 2000 Read More