Hi class!
So, I know you guys have a bit on your plate, but here's one more thing!!!!
Your homework for Monday is:
1) the population pyramid
2) pre-read chapter four, section 3
3) review notes of chapter four, section 3 to better prepare for class (they will be posted by Sunday - please give me a little time to finish)
4) chapter four project DUE DATE: Monday Oct. 28
5) Moving into Political Geography, there is huge discrepancy between communism and a democracy. What does democracy mean to you? How do you define communism? Discuss (general) advantages/disadvantages to each. Is there a perfect type of government? What solutions are there to disparities within a society?
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Democracy: Everyone has equal rights and people vote for representative/leaders. The advantage of Democracy is that everyone has the right to vote and can help enforce laws. But its disadvantage is that the people in power are often corrupt. Also, democracies can also function really slowly.
Communism: The government has complete control over all businesses (everyone owns all property) and everyone is equal. The advantage of communism is that there are no social classes therefore there isn't inequality. But the disadvantage is that people don;t put as much effort into work when they know that they won't get a raise or sumtin. So communism will never function.
There is no perfect government because each one has its ups and its downs.
Democracy, to me, is a government in which decisions aren't only made by people in power, but by all the citizens regardless of their status.
Communism is a form of government in which all members of the society are equal, meaning that they have equal rights, opportunities, etc., and the well-being of the community is placed higher than individuals.
Both have their pros and cons. Having a true democracy is difficult, and it often does not happen. Also, it has its flaws; for example, if people vote on, let's say, a law, then 49% may vote for and 51% against, and the 'for' people will win, but it wouldn't necessarily mean that it is the best decision. However, democracy gives people freedom and a voice in the society.
Communism is a great concept: a society where everyone is valued equally and decisions are made to be fit for everyone. However, it doesn't really work practically. If everyone is paid the same amount in a job and everyone is guaranteed the job no matter what, then some people may work hard and others may not see the motivation to work hard, since the result will always be the same, and the society will not develop or progress if half the community behaves this way, which is often the case.
I suppose there is no perfect government, unless it's a government of one person. Everyone has their different views, values, and needs, so it's very difficult to meet everyone's standards, which is what a perfect government's goal is: make everyone happy.
Democracy to me means equality and fairness. since it is based on public vote it would form an almost uthopic (dunno if its a word)government. the bad thing is that the people we vote for, become corrupt and seek more money and more power.
Communism is a good idea but its unrealistic. even though the equality in mind is a good attempt, and there are no evident social classes, it doesn't work well with human ambition. when a worker knows that he is gonna be doing the same job for his whole life, and that whether he works really hard, or become lazy he'll end up with the same paycheck at the end of the month, he justs looses hope.
i doubt there could be a perfect government, even if there was a certain merge. becuz ppl always find a reason to be unhappy, always!!
There are two things that are several things that i find important in defining a democracy: the government is elected by the people, and everyone has equal rights. Communism is a type of government in which the government controls everything, and everyone is equal. Both types of government have advantages and disadvantages. Democracy is generally regarded as being better because people have more say, but a major problem is corruption. Communism creates equality between people due to the lack of social classes. A disadvantage is that people are not as motivated to work, because no matter how hard they work, they will not get a raise or higher status than people in the same profession. There is no perfect type of government, because everyone has a different opinion on how a perfect government should function. A lot of governments seem to be perfect in theory, but human nature always seem to cause a problem when it is actually carried out. As for disparities within society, i am not really sure how to solve that problem. I think communism took care of it pretty well, but it just doesn't work because of human nature.
I say that democracy means that there is equality between the people and everyone votes on things. No one mentioned that democracy was founded in ancient Greece... whatever it's a cool fact. Obviously, not everyone can make up the government like back then because there are too many people now, and there would definitely be fighting between people. So instead, democracy nowadays consists of voting for presidents of countries (you have your own say). So the US would be called a democratic republic because they have a republican form of government, but people can still vote for leaders like in a democracy.
Communism is a government in which the government has control over everything, including economy, jobs, paycheck, factories, private businesses, the army, health care system, and a lot of other things.
Democracy can give fairness to how a country works, although sometimes, like in the 2000 US Presidential election, someone can screw up the votes and not give everyone an equal voice. It sometimes takes a little time for someone to be elected, though, as was the case in Pakistan.
Communism can create corruptness in a country and create terrible lives for the people in a country (ex. The Great Purge in Russia and the reigns of Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Robert Mugabe). An advantage of communism is that the government can mange every aspect of the country to make things according to how they want them. And also, the fact that everyone is equal is an advantage, but it is not always true, because in some cases like in China, they take away people's houses and give them no recompensation.
Some countries need a certain type of government to keep the society stable, and others need a different type. Every nation needs a type of government that is suitable for them, and that one is not necessarily the same as another. There is no perfect government.
Democracy is a government which is lead by a chosen person but also by all the citizens. It is based on equal rights/fairness. One advantage of democracy is that everybody has the right to vote and say what they have to say. A disadvantage from this, is that when a lot of ideas and different views are put together it takes manifold time to reach a goal and move to another one.
Communism is lead by a government that control over everything. An advantage in this, is that everyone is getting the same amount of money so there is no social class. A disadvantage is that people can be really lazy at work and others really work hard and they will still get the same amount of money. I think it's unjust.
I don't think there's a perfect government because each of us has different views, values and beliefs.
In a democracy everyone has the right to relinquish his opinion. Democracy contains freedom of speech and fairness.A government is voted by the people's will.The result is to create a government which is fair fpr everyone.The bad thing about democracy is that there are some states where the government is corrupted.But I think corruption occurs just in less cases.
In contarst to democracy is comunism a government in which all members of a society are equal.There are no social classes like in a democracy.For my opinion means comunism that everyone has the same rights and just small differences between the capital,which leads to injustice.
For example: A medical practitioner has almost the same capital as a simple tradesman. I think in a communist government can escalates very fast.
I Think Democracy is the best way to rule,because the government is created in the people's will.You just have to vote! But I Suppose that there is no PERFECT government. I mean there will always be someone dissatisfied.
Democracy works with decisions taken by the people, but communism claims to be "for the people." I thin both of them are crappy government systems and i think all forms of government are crappy yet necessary.
There is absolutley no perfect form of government cause theyre all crappy, but i think democracy is better so u keep the majority of people happy, the rest just need "bread and games."
I personaly beleive that Democracy gives a chance for everyone to speak their mind. In a democratic government everybody gets a say in what happens to the country. The only bad thing about Democracy is that a lot of the political leaders have their corrupt ways of influencing the votes of others.
Communism, however is somehow a great Idea. But because of all the corruption that goes on in this world that idea could never be put into action. In communism everybody would be equal meaning that nobody would strugle because they have less power or not as many advantages as anybody else. However since the communist workers know that they can't do anything to get a better quality of life then they won't give a hundred percent in what they do which will result in a bad thing. This means none of the sited governments is better then the other because they both have their advantages where they bring good things to the nations and their disadvantages where they make it terrible for the country.
Jorge Che Guevara
Oh yes! Just what I wanted to write about!
Firstly, and as a member of the Spanish Socialist Youth, I must respond to the typical cheesy phrase of 'Communism has never worked' or 'Communism is good in theory but not in practic'. Communism has worked, in fact, th USSR's economy was better with a communist government than with Yeltsin's Capitalist one. People had higher incomes, they had to pay less taxes, there was barely no social inequalities as there were when the Tsar ruled, there was no slavery or low-class domination, etc...
A very peculiar thing about people nowadays (invaded by the American biased view) is that they think that Castro seized power from the people. Look, before Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara there was Batista who was a right-wing dictator who had seized power. In order to expell this cruel maniac, the Cubans supported the communist rebels.
Communism was born to overthrow extreme capitalism and the cruel treatment of workers. It was designed to create a class-less society in which the government would overthrow any type of aristocracy and burgoise and take full control of businesses. This absolute control over resources clearly has many advantages: the government can allocate resources regarding the needs of the population; it can make health care and education a public good instead of elitizing it for those who can afford it and making low income classes die; it can make itself sure that there is a regulation on pollution; it will distribute wealth fairly and abolish any type of outrageous salary comparisons (musicians, footballers, etc...) making effort a limiting factor to earn money but making itself sure that handicapped and discapacitated people receive a salary; and many more advantages.
For me communism has in fact gloriously triumphed (Vietnam,Cuba,China). Its clear and fair ideology has indeed captivated the peasants and low class citizens so much that it has motivated them to die in order to carry out revolutions against forced in to power authority.
Nonetheless, it may be argued that its main points have not been fully accomplished because, in my opinion, no one in the history of humanity, not even Karl Marx, has responded naturally to the main ideas of trols moneycommunism. I think it goes against human nature, which doesn't make it at all a bad thing. Money corrupts people, the moment someone takes power and controls money, greed and cruelty invades his mind.
Democracy (by the way there are Democratic Communists like the Spainish party Izquierda Unida) for me means the right for all to say what we want and vote equally. It doesn't at all mean egualitarian states, that is Comunism. In a democracy aristocracy, burgoise and large companies/banks control the people. I would call it a 'democratic dictatorship' instead of a democracy. The supposedly public goods (education, health care) are dominated by forces that are invisible to the human eye (as Che Guevara said). People are free to vote their president but profits and the market control them. There are other disadvantages: people are given to much freedom and the lack of discipline make people who think they are cool to break laws under the emblem 'we are free'.
There has never been a perfect type of government. Corrupted ambitious people (Stalin) have made them fail. That doesn't mean, however, that a perfect style of government csn be invented. For me a perfect type of governemt would be a democratic communist/socialist government which is elected by the people and which respects people as equals, distributes wealth in a fairer way taxing high-income groups and that respects christian values which really are communist values.
ok a tad confusing... my understandings are as followed:
theres left and right...ways to rule
Communism-----------------Fascism
then either sides can develop into a dictatorship. Then there's the parliament, cabinet, congress, senate, coalitions ect... Then there Liberals, Conservatives, republicans, Democrats,
Its difficult when you say democracy because there's a:
Direct democracy
Socialist Democracy
anarchist Democracy
iriqois democracy
Censensus Democracy
interactive democracy
all with very different ideas and i know for sure that i don't know enough about politics to judge. I have some views of what i would find a good government and what not but its all a mess, everything is intertwined and therefor confusing.
I AM LEFT, that's for sure. but what the Americans say is left is for most europeans still right, because Americans are allergic for communism. Let me explain in class what my dads been telling me, only then can i make sense :P
Democracy is a lie because the people who choose to be in Congress are not doing their job when they said they would. Our government talks about "for the people, about the people, etc." If the people were involved, Bush would not be president right now. Last year there was not even enough support to impeach him. If ordinary citizens had voted, he would be out, and we would not be at war anymore if it were not for him. He used fear to motivate some of us. What did Iraq have to do with Al Qaida and the Trade Center? With communism, it's a good idea, but people subverted it. It is in human nature; you cannot stick to something and make it good. You are always going to have flaws, and the idea was flawless. We need anarchy now to let out some of our frustration. It is not the greatestthing, but it is what people need.
Democracy mean equality and the fact that you have a right. a right to freedom of speech, a right to vote e.t.c. Democracy is a hard thing to sustain especially when it comes to issues such as freedom of speech.
Communism. the fact tha everyone is ewual and everyone is worth the same value. i do not believe in communism. i dn't believe that other people who do not work as hard or do not dedicate themselves to their jobs deserves the same earnings as someoone who does. i find the form of government flawed; Even if we did live in a perfect/ideal world, it woulld be hard for communism to work out since what you put in is what you get out, you shoould be able to profit for what you do and it should be your choice to decide iif you want to share your earnings with others, not the government's...
lol yes jorge is right about Castro "not" seizing the power from the people, he seized it first from batista then took the people's right to have power away.....because he is a dictator, he could be socialist, capitalist, or whatever the heck he wanted, but being a dictator you could actually say he did seize the people's power, even though maybe not from them. If you thought Jorge that communism was the reason for misconception and that you explained it correctly then you were wrong, if you realize that communism isnt the only reason, since either way through communism the people will practically own nothing, for the people to not have power, then maybe your on the right track, hope that makes sense.
lol and people in the class have some seriously ****** perspective of government. At least from my point of view.
To a democracy is where the people get to vote and select their leaders. The economic system is also capitalist, which means buisinesses are owned privately and not all of the markets are run by the government.
Communism is where everybody is treated fairly. The governement controls the economy but it pays for the people for things such as healthcare and education, but everyone makes the same amount of money, a janitor would make the same amount of money as say a doctor.
THe type of government that is perfect is what the people of a particular country wants. If i had to choose between comunism and democracy, i'd choose democracy because communism has too many problems. It never works, the leader usually gets too greeedy and takes over power and the military gets too strong and the state becomes a military dictatorship. Also, in a communist government, there is no motivation to work because why should you try to work as a doctpr if you get payed as much as a janitor.
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