On Friday's class we did an activity with Hershey
kisses. Mrs. Gleason passed out Hershey kisses. Some people had three. Some
people had two. Then, two people had 10. The kisses were distributed unevenly.
Then we played rock paper scissors. If you lost you gave the other person a
Hershey Kiss. If you won you received one. Once you ran out of Hershey Kisses
you sat down and couldn't play anymore. This represented Capitalism. It was
freedom of competition, you chose how much to play and who to play with. It was
also private ownership of industry, each student started with his or her own
candy. It also resulted in unequal economic classes, some people won, but most
people lost. It also showed class struggle, our complaints during the game of
how it was unfair. Lastly, it also showed workers' revolt, our arguments about
fairness and attempts to get back into the game. Then, Mrs. Gleason collected
the candy and redistributed them, evenly, so everyone had three Hershey kisses.
This represented Socialism. It showed the government ownership of industry when
the teacher collected the kisses. It also showed the goal of economic equality.
This was showed y redistributing candy to all the students evenly. Lastly, it
showed aims for classmate’s society by each student having an equal amount of
candy. Then, we were asked if we would risk playing rock paper scissors again.
You didn't have to play and if you wanted to keep your candy you stayed seated.
This represented Communism. It showed the goal of class’s society achieved by
students refusing to play the game and agreeing to share the candy. It also
showed that no government was needed by the teacher no longer needing to
supervise the candy distribution. I think the lesson was fun because we got to eat candy and we also learned how each type of government worked in a fun way. However, I also think that is was frustrating because when some people had more you wanted more too.
A) Marx's theory on how the poor would help themselves is, Communism. This was the first theory he came up with. The theory was that everyone got equal amounts of everything. But, without the governments supervision. His second theory was Socialism. This was the same idea as Communism except, the government is in charge.
B) Smith's theory on the "invisible hand"* is Capitalism. There would be no government involvement in the economy. It is the idea that if the economy is left alone, a "helping hand" works everything out. So basically, the economy will always work itself out. Smith thinks this would benefit the poor because if one store has a higher price then customers will automatically go to the lower priced store, so this forces the first store to lower its prices. Then, it is all about who has better products.
I think that Capitalism and Socialism are the best solutions. This is what the United States consists of. We are called a mixed market economy.* I think this is the best solution because the government isn't too involved, but also the economy takes care of itself and works itself out.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulyVXa-u4wE
*Knowledge from Intro to Business
