I Have Too Much Chocolate!

In History class we began to learn about capitalism, socialism, and communism, and in order to do so we did an activity during class with Hershey Kisses. Each student got three pieces of candy except for two who got ten. This unequal distribution of the candy was to show that not everyone has equal wealth, and few are much richer than others. We then played rock paper scissors, and every time someone lost the game they would lose a piece of candy, and every time they won they would gain a piece of candy. Once you had no more candy you would sit down and stop playing, but you couldn't stop playing unless you did lose all your candy. Those who had a lot of candy didn't want to keep playing because they feared they would lose it all if they did. I lost all my chocolates in the first three games that i played, but from watching the other students continue to play after I was out , I could tell that they were being selfish with their candy, and they didn't want to lose any of it. After only a few students still remained, the chocolate was then collected and redistributed so that everyone in the class had an equal amount, three candies. Those who were “poor” or had no chocolates were happy that now they had some, but those who were “rich” or had a lot of candy, were now upset, and felt like the redistribution was unfair because they now had less than they did before. The purpose of this activity was to chow Marx’s theory of redistribution, to create a classless society. He believed that people wouldn't be selfish, and they could all agree to have their money redistributed so that everyone was equally wealthy.

Like our teacher wanted to help us by redistributing the candy so that we were all equal, Karl Marx, and Adam smith both wanted to help the poor, but they had two very different approaches. Marx believed in Capitalism, socialism, and communism, and that everyone would start off with their own amount of money and there would be a freedom of competition, which would them result in an unequal distribution of wealth. Therefore, the government would have to take ownership, and then redistribute to everyone, which would result in a classless society where the government is no longer needed. Smith believed something very different. He developed a theory called The Invisible Hand. Smith said that if society was left alone, they would fix the problem themselves. They would try to get the most for their money, creating competition between businesses, the “invisible hand” will push people to the better deals. Smith thought that if people would just stop trying to regulate the government it would regulate itself. Because of this competition there would be lower prices on goods, and more options for the poor, and therefore they will be able to afford more. Businesses will be forced to lower their prices, or they will fail to make profit. Marx didn't think people would be selfish with their money and that they would be willing to share so that everyone was equal, whereas Smith believed the opposite, that people would be selfish with their money, and because of that the economy would regulate itself.

In my opinion , based the activity that we did in class, I believe that while Smith’s theory may not be perfect, it would definitely be more effective than Marx’s theory, especially in today’s society. If the government were to collects and redistribute everything, it wouldn't be as easy as it was for us to do so with the Hershey kisses. People would protest, and not agree to give up their money to share it with other people who didn't earn it like that person did. I believe that this int a fair way to help the poor either because it is taking away from someone else.  Letting the economy regulate itself is a more fair and effective way to help the poor. If the government  were to get involved and try to fix situations by giving everyone equal wealth it would most likely make bigger problems, so by not getting involved and letting things play out on their own it avoids this risk of bigger problems developing. By natural competition between businesses the poor will be able to have more price options for the same product and therefore they will be able to afford what they need. Smith’s Ideas are a way to help the poor without affecting anyone else. His theory is much like they way that our country run today however, there truly isnt a perfect way to fix these problems  Overall, both Marx and Smith had ideas of ways to fix economic problems and help the poor, and both of these theories were very different and had both positive and negative aspects within them.