Gambling our Sweet, Sweet Souls

     Last Friday, we gambled our souls in History class.  I am referring to Hershey Kisses as our souls.  In the beginning of the lesson, our teacher distributed some Hershey Kisses to everyone.  The teacher gave most people 3 Hershey Kisses and some people ten.  Ten!!!  It was quiet unfair.  After the (unfair) distribution of candy, we began to gamble.  We played rock paper scissors with our classmates.  If we lost, we gave up a Hershey Kiss.  If we won, we get one of theirs.  It was q

uiet nerve racking and if we ran out of candy, we lost the game.  We were out.  Fortunately, luck was on my side.  I started with 3 and ended up with 13.  I went back to my seat pretty happy, but all my risk taking flew away in the wind in a matter of few seconds.  Our teacher collected all of our candy and redistributed it equally to everyone.  Everyone got three.  I wasn’t exactly mad because I started with three and ended up with three, but I was annoyed that the risks I took were for nothing since I ended up with what I started.  Everyone had what I did.  No one had more and no one had less.  This little activity wasn’t just a fun Friday game; it got into depth about Capitalism, Socialism and Communism.  The Industrial Revolution changed more than technology and the way work is done.  It changed the way money and goods were distributed and how people looked at the rich and poor class.  Karl Marx and Adam Smith believe in two systems in society. 

     Karl Marx's Theory of communism starts with capitalism.  Capitalism describes a society where people have private ownership of industry and the freedom of competition.  This results in an economic class with poor, middle class, and rich people.  He states that poor people will revolt because they will realize that their life is unfair and will want more for themselves.  In order to make

Karl Marx

things fair, Marx said that people would create a government system of socialism.  In socialism the government owned the industry.  The poor would share a goal to bring economic equality and aim for a classless society.  Socialism is the final step in the path to communism.  Marx believed that the people would create communism by any means, even violence, to escape the divisions between rich and poor. Communism describes a classless society where there is no government and everyone has an equal income.  This system, the path to communism, would benefit the poor because the poor don’t live beneath anyone anymore.  They have an equal amount of money as the rich and have a fair chance at life. 

     An alternative system was created by Adam Smith who is considered an enlightenment thinker.  He based his fantasy society on capitalism and created the invisible hand.  Smith believed that people will always want more.  He said that people will find always look for the most for the least amount; the products with more quality that cost less.  This will force businesses to improve their business plans to stay competitive.  The businesses that have high quality products for low prices will stay in business.  Slowly, economy will regulate itself.  Although this would take a really long time, this would benefit the poor because they will be able to afford products for a cheaper price. 

     I believe that Adam Smith’s theory is a better solution, but it isn’t the best.  Smith’s theory is much more realistic than Marx’s.  Marx’s theory is a dive into a Utopian Society.  It’s like living in The Giver and that isn’t bound to happen any time soon.  Human beings will always be human beings and will always want more than what they have.  Even if that sounds mean, we will always want to be better than others.  Smith’s theory is kind of like what we have now.  For instance, in many towns, there is more than one Supermarket.  Both companies have similar products and different prices and qualities.  The people will go to the market that has cheaper products at lower prices.  The downside to this theory is that regulation of economy will happen very slowly.  There will need to be some government regulation if the people would not want to face mass unemployment during the wait. 

     Neither theories are the best; both have flaws.  I think a great society should be aware of the differences taxes and insurance.  In our society, depending on jobs, people have different insurances.  Some people have insurance’s that cover essential things like medical issues and some other don’t.  This isn’t fair to the people who sometimes have to pay a lot more.  Also, some states have taxes and others don’t.  People who live in NH don’t have to pay taxes while people in MA do.  

"HERSHEY'S KISSES | Chocolate Candy Products." Hersheys.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2014. 

 "Karl Marx." The History Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2014.