Importance of Capitalism vs Communism today By Veer Shukla

 Importance of Capitalism vs Communism today

By Veer Shukla

Capitalism and Communism are two ideologies which believe in opposite views. I am interested in

this topic because I want to learn more about how countries work and how these issues shape current

economies impacting our future.

What is Capitalism? For starters, Capitalism is an ideology which suggests that people should

compete to make money rather than it being distributed by the government. The term was first used to

describe the United Kingdom during the industrial revolution. This was exactly the reason why

Communism was created in the first place. On the other hand, there is Communism. For beginners,

Communism is an ideology that suggests that everyone should get equal pay.

The relevance of this debate includes important historical events like the Cold War and current events

like the Division of Korea. The origins of Capitalism versus Communism began in 1945 after the end

of World War II. The European continent was split into Western Europe mostly aligned with the US

and Eastern Europe mostly aligned with the Soviet Union. The US President Harriet Truman was

concerned about Communism spreading so he launched the Truman Doctrine in order to contain the

rise of Communism for the next four to five decades. The two countries (the USA and then USSR)

engaged in proxy wars like the Korean War, end of Vietnam War were their ideology on other

countries just led to several events like various coups by both sides, however the Communist rule in

the USSR began after World War 1 when the Communists defeated the Russian monarchy in the

Russian Civil War after World War 1.

Before Japan surrendered in World War II, Korea was under the administration of Japan, it was split

between the Soviets and the Americans. The Soviet Union occupied the northern half of Korea after

World War II and supported the establishment of a communist government under Kim Il-sung and the

South was taken by the Americans who created the Republic of Korea (ROK) under the leadership of

Syngman Rhee, the first president of the Republic of Korea (ROK).

Pros of capitalism mean potentially being able to diversify the economy more, and emphasize on

competition and economic freedom. In the US, this freedom has led to innovation. One disadvantage

is that not everybody does the same job or has the same skills, which means that pay could be unequal

and this leads to income inequality. The US adheres to this system, and it has long been associated

with our country. On paper Communism sounds like a great idea, but it had some negative effects on

the countries that were under its rule. For example, in the Soviet Union, the Soviets pursued policies

which led to the relocation of many people as part of collectivist efforts. As a matter of fact, the only

remaining Communist countries today are China, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam and, depending on who you

ask, North Korea.

All in all, the issue of Capitalism versus Communism has a great impact today because it shaped a lot

of the current events such as the division of Korea and some historical events like the Vietnam War

and the Korean War. It is important to learn about these topics even to this day because this helps us

understand the ongoing current events in our world better and make us provide perspective to how

different ideologies work and why not all countries run in the same way.

Source: Comparing Communism, Capitalism, and Socialism

https://www.studentsofhistory.com/comparing-communism-capitalism