Communism Verses Capitalism, Term Paper Example

In “The Russians” by Hedrick Smith, which depicts the day to day life in a pure non-market socialist/communist society, there are many examples that would convince me that it would be very difficult to evolve beyond the limitations of communism within the society even if there are capitalist characteristics visible and present. To imagine that instead of living in the United States, I was born in the Soviet Union or Communist China,  I will compare and contrast my likely future and how I would deal with the following daily tasks in all three societies.

Finding a place to live, i.e. renting an apartment, buying a house, living with your parents, etc.

Finding a place to live in the United states can be difficult depending on one’s credit score, and living wages but in many ways this is only if one wants to have their own place. If you are willing to live with roommates it’s not necessarily as difficult and one can look in any newspaper, or online to find numerous apartment and house listings that would fit into their budget.  The most important difference between the United States and a communist country like China or Russia is that if you were to buy a home in the U.S., that home belongs to you, but if you a buy a home in a communist country, especially if you are part owner of a home and you are a woman than the ownership of that home reverts back to the state upon your death. This can be seen in Smith’s book the Russian when he says, “Living quarters before she dies and her apartment automatically reverts to the state. Other writers and many private individuals blame the housing squeeze for the high divorce rate in the Soviet Union (Smith, 102).” This is an inhibitor to economic growth and freedom, and demonstrates why living arrangements in communists countries can’t compare to those of the U.S.

Choosing an occupation and finding employment and success in your chosen population.

An occupation in Russia or China is not very difficult to acquire. In fact it could be easier their than in the United States, so long as one is willing to do a need position like a doctor or a lawyer, or to be an engineer. The problem is free market capitalism provides avenues for innovation where communist societies do not as Hedricks Smith notes in his book “The Russians” when he says, “In terms of the Soviet past, it has come a long way; in terms of industrialized Europe and America, it has a long way to go. (Smith, 75).” He is noting here that there are far more diverse opportunities in other areas of the world that just can’t be found in communist countries. There is also the issue of privacy in Russia. Smith talks about what would be required for someone to secure a job in Russia and he says that their would be a complete file of information kept on that person from birth, he says it’s, “a full, lifetime dossier on everyone. Each time an individual changes jobs, gets a promotion, wants to travel abroad, or does anything unusual; he has to obtain a kharakteristika, a character reference that (Smith, 352).” In addition to having less economic opportunities, one would have to be held to a much higher standard of ethics in both work effort and morality for sub-standard compensation.

Achieving a higher standard of living than your parents.

Achieving a higher standard of living than one’s parents in a Communist country is easier said than done.

In “The Party” when talking about the strangle hold the Chinese government has over power and change in China, Richard McGregor notes that, “The Chinese Communist Party’s enduring grip on power is based on a simple formula straight out of the Leninist playbook. For all the reforms of the past, three decades, the Party has made sure it keeps a lock-hold on the states and the three pillars of its survival strategy: control of personnel, Propaganda and the People’s Liberation Army (Mcgregor, xxi).” This is an example of how people are limited in communists societies. They are not allowed to expand beyond their current status, nor are they able to push beyond the ways of old. TO surpass one’s parents would require drastic changes in cultural and socioeconomic norms that a communists regime could not deliver.

Becoming a member of the economic and/or political elite, i.e. becoming affluent or extraordinarily wealth and achieving a place in the ruling class where you can exercise real political power.

In order for one to be successful within communist society there must be a motivation to contribute to the communist part. As Hedricks noted in “The Russians,” while women made up 84% of the working population in the mid 70’s, they were still considered second class citizens, and this type of mentality has not changed much with fall of the Soviet Union. When the majority of a nations working population finds it difficult to evolve beyond their current status despite diligent hard working efforts, it’s only a matter of time before that nation is in decline.  In regards to China, and their political structure in his book “The Party” McGregor notes that, “China long ago dispensed with old-style communist central planning for a sleeker hybrid market economy, the Party’s greatest innovation. But measure China against a definitional checklist authored by Robert Service, the veteran historian of Soviet Russia and Beijing retains a surprising number of the qualities that characterized communist regimes of the twentieth century (McGregor, xxxi).” The author goes on to note, that China’s current style of Communism is very similar to the communism of old in many ways, specifically, they have, “eradicated or emasculated political rivals; eliminated the autonomy of the courts and press; restricted religion and civil society; denigrated rival versions of nationhood; centralized political power; established extensive networks of security police; and dispatched dissidents to labor camps. All of this suggests that for one to become successful in China it is actually detrimental to their sustainability and prosperity in the country. All of these acts demonstrate the desire of those in power to impede progress and prevent others from becoming more successful within the society.

Consider the three articles linked on the Moodle course outline under this assignment. Are the Chinese people quoted in the article crazy to want to leave the country of their birth and move to the U.S. or other capitalist economies? Would you be better off in the Soviet Union or Communist China?

In Jia Lynn Yang’s article, “If China is doing so well, why do so many Chinese think of moving here? (Yang, 2)” She confronts the fact that Chinese are actually flocking to American for better economic opportunities, despite China’s stellar economic success. In the article, Yang points out the misconception often touted by U.S. politicians that America is losing jobs to China and that soon the entire world will be speaking Chinese due to the country’s economic success. The author states that they visited Beijing and interviewed many people who stated the same thing that in China, “It’s hard to get ahead these days, people kept saying, no matter how hard you work. The gap between rich and poor is widening.” If one were to evaluate the problem, it would appears Americans have a serious misconception about the state of economic affairs in China, but they base their beliefs on propaganda and not facts and Yang points out that these people don’t have data to backup their preconceived notions. She mentions a study, “When asked which country had the world’s leading economy, 41 percent of Americans said it was China, even though China’s economy is one-third the size of ours. Per capita income in the United States is nearly nine times the Chinese figure, which ranks 84th in the world, lower than Azerbaijan, Lebanon and Chile, according to the World Bank (Yang, 2).” The real question is are Chinese crazy for wanting to leave?

In their article in the Chicago Guard titled “Wary of Future, Professionals Leave China in Record Numbers” the article chronicles the journey of a successful 30 year old professional woman by the name of Chen Kuo, who claims she had her own apartment and a high end job, but was leaving China to move to Australia because she believed she had better opportunities there.  The author notes that Chen said “It’s very stressful in China — sometimes I was working 128 hours a week for my auditing company,” Ms. Chen said in her Beijing apartment a few hours before leaving. “And it will be easier raising my children as Christians abroad. It is more free in Australia.” SO this shows that Chinese are leaving not just for economic reason but for the religious freedoms that other countries offer that their land does not. This is a perfectly sane consideration especially considering that the Chinese government is growing increasingly more corrupt.

Work Cited

Friedman, Milton. Capitalism And Freedom. Anniversary. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 1962. Print.

Demick, Barbara. “Rich Chinese Want to Buy Happiness — by Emigrating.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 02 Nov. 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-china-emigration-20121102,0,7989771.story>.

McGregor, Richard. The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers. New York: Harper Perennial, 2012. Print.

Research., Ian Johnson; Amy Qin, Adam Century And Patrick Zuo Contributed. “CHANGING OF THE GUARD; Wary of Future, Professionals Leave China in Record Numbers.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 Nov. 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/world/asia/wary-of-future-many-professionals-leave-china.html>.

Smith, Hedrick. The Russians. New York: Quadrangle/New York Times Book, 1976. Print.

Yang, Jia Lynn. “If China Is Doing so Well, Why Do so Many Chinese Think of Moving Here?” Washington Post. The Washington Post, 18 Nov. 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/if-china-is-doing-so-well-why-do-so-many-chinese-want-to-move-here/2012/11/16/b139e2e2-284d-11e2-96b6-8e6a7524553f_story.html>.