The perfect society is something many people have dreamed of. A society where everyone got
along, where everyone was happy and productive…it is a wonderful thought. One of the ideas
was communism, where the people worked equally for the common good. However,
communism, in and of itself, cannot survive as a political or economic system. But first, what is
Communism?
Communism is a political system first defined by Karl Marx in the “Communist
Manifesto”. According to Jaime Noce in the article “Communism”, “Communism is a political
and economic system in which citizens share property and wealth based on need. Private
ownership does not occur.” (43) It sounds like an effective system, except for one thing: the
people themselves.
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However, there was another system.
Hoemke, 2
Capitalism is the political and economic system that focuses on the right of the people to
choose how they want to live their lives. (“Capitalism”, 21) The people are free to find jobs, elect
officials, and own property. This conflicts with communism, where the main party stays in
power, and controls the people. All in all, democracy and communism were almost complete
opposites, one being totalitarianism and one being an elected state. Nationalism was strong back
then, causing both systems to believe that the other system was wrong. They both tried to snuff
out each other, leading to many problems. (A Worldwide Cold War, 171-172,) (Stalin, Joseph,
429). Capitalism and communism were at each other’s throats, and led to fear of each other.
The tensions between the two systems came to a head in 1945 when the communist
USSR and the capitalist USA, the superpowers of the world, began to disagree. While the US
wanted to spread capitalism, The Soviet Union wanted to increase communist influence in the
world. A cold war, a state of readiness for the strong possibility of a true war, began. Both sides
began developing larger militaries in order to combat each other. However, unlike the US,
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These plots, equaling 3% of the total farmland, produced
one third of the total food produced (51). Although the Soviets had a very large production of oil,
electricity, coal, and steel, the people had a lower living standard. (Communism, 51) The Cold
War was the hostilities between the US and the USSR, but the USSR’s communist regime could
not survive, as they tried to micromanage the people’s lives.
Hoemke, 3
The Soviet Union, unable to support itself, began to fall. Then came a certain man named
Mikhail Gorbachev came into power. Mikhail Gorbachev was the new leader of the USSR in
1985, after the last leader, Chernenko, passed away. He had a different view of communism.
Mikhail Gorbachev believed in more freedom of expression and economic reform. (End of the
Cold War, 351) Gorbachev wanted to make the economy more like capitalism. (352)
“Gorbachev accepted that communism was the basic cause for falling Soviet productivity and
lack of economic growth.” (End of the Cold War, 352) The leader of the communist party
himself realized that their system would not work.
Communism is a political and economic system that cannot and will not work.
“The distinct differences in the political systems of the two countries often prevented them from reaching a mutual understanding on key policy issues and even, as in the case of the Cuban missile crisis, brought them to the brink of war” (Library of Congress). The Soviet Union and The United States were complete opposites, The United States was a democracy whereas The Soviet Union was a dictatorship. This only began their differences though, their economies, beliefs, goals, and even their fears, everything about them made them different except for their enemy. The
A war does not necessarily require physical weapons to fight. From 1947 to 1991, military tension and ideological conflicts held place. Cold War is defined as a state of political hostility existing between countries, characterized by threats, violent propaganda, subversive activities, and other measures short of open warfare, in particular. The causes of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union were the mutual distrust that had taken place in World War II, intense rivalry between the two super powers, and conflicting ideologies. The two superpowers differed in views of political and economic principles and were eager to spread their ideologies to other countries.
The struggle between happiness and society shows a society where true happiness has been forfeited to form a perfect order.
During 1950-1991 The Soviet Union was considered one of the most powerful countries in the world. Known during this time for its enormous military and the overtaking and enforcing total communist ruler over all the eastern block European countries.The conquering of these countries gained the Soviet Union useful resources such as oil, food, minerals,goods,and land which during this time was very useful to the Soviet Union. Even with all of these advantages the Soviet Union had several internal problems such as severe famine , poor economy,People working in horrible conditions in factories being payed minimum wage, and depending on rival countries for food and supplies. It got worse when Gorbachev took over and made several new reforms such as glasnost and perestroika and with all of the rapid changes in the S.U ( Soviet Union) government it caused social chaos and disorder and rebellion against Gorbachev. (GQ) Though which of the factors contributed more to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Economy or politics?.(Claim) During this time period Political factors seem more responsible to the collapse of the Soviet Union, because even though the Soviet Union had several food shortages it does not compare to how the Soviet Union lost several sources of income and resources such as Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, etc.(Significance) Countries like Poland which has plenty of
an ideal society, in which everything is supposed to be perfect, with all life’s problems solved. It is
According to the conventional view, the Cold War was a conflict between two superpowers, caused by Soviet aggression, in which the US tried to contain the Soviet Union and protect the world from it. At the inception of the Cold War, the Soviet Union was on the verge of amassing a great deal of power, and it was this possibility that frightene...
The Cold War was a conflict between the Communist nations led by the Soviet Union
Gorbachev, Mikhail. "Perestroika: New thinking for our country and the world." In Perestroika: New thinking for our country and the world, by Mikhail Gorbachev, 139-144. Harpercollins, 1987.
In 1945, most of the countries around the world are devastated further to World War II which had stroke the globe for six years. Only the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, also called USSR, seem to be in a stable economic situation despite weighty losses. Both states are considered to be the great winners of the war and this is the beginning of a confrontation between two superpowers but also the confrontation between two distinct ideologies: communism and capitalism.
After World War Two, the United States and Soviet Union quickly became enemies due to different ideals. The Soviet Union supported communism, while the United States supported capitalism and democracy. Communism was an economic system where the state owned all means of production, and goods and services were shared. Under communist rule, free elections were prohibited and media was censored. The United States did not agree with this system of government.
The Soviet Union, which was once a world superpower in the 19th century saw itself in chaos going into the 20th century. These chaoses were marked by the new ideas brought in by the new leaders who had emerged eventually into power. Almost every aspect of the Soviet Union was crumbling at this period both politically and socially, as well as the economy. There were underlying reasons for the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and eventually Eastern Europe. The economy is the most significant aspect of every government. The soviet economy was highly centralized with a “command economy” (p.1. fsmitha.com), which had been broken down due to its complexity and centrally controlled with corruption involved in it. A strong government needs a strong economy to maintain its power and influence, but in this case the economic planning of the Soviet Union was just not working, which had an influence in other communist nations in Eastern Europe as they declined to collapse.
According to the conventional Western view, the Cold War was a conflict between two superpowers, caused by Soviet aggression, in which the U.S. tried to contain the Soviet Union and protect the world from it.
The cold war was failed by the Soviet Union for many reasons, including the sudden collapse of communism (Baylis & Smith, 2001.) This sudden collapse of communism was brought on ultimately by internal factors. The soviet unions president Gorbachev’s reforms: glasnost (openness) and perestroika (political reconstructering) ultimately caused the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Gorbachev’s basics for glasnost were the promotion of principles of freedom to criticize; the loosening of controls on media and publishing; and the freedom of worship. His essentials of perestroika were, a new legislature; creation of an executive presidency; ending of the ‘leading role’ of the communist party; allowing state enterprises to sell part of their product on the open market; lastly, allowing foreign companies to own Soviet enterprises (Baylis & Smith, 2001.) Gorbachev believed his reforms would benefit his country, but the Soviet Union was ultimately held together by the soviet tradition he was trying to change. The Soviet Union was none the less held together by “…powerful central institutions, pressure for ideological conformity, and the threat of force.
Contrary to widely held beliefs, capitalism is not a system which exploits a large portion of society for the sake of a small minority. Capitalism is an economic system characterized by the freedom of the market with increasing concentration of the private and corporate ownership of production and distribution means. It has an stable economic system in that it is consistent with human behavior. People understand that there is no such this as free lunch. You have to work to survive and only those who do will prosper within the system and make it to the top. People are motivated to work as hard as they possibly can because they know that the harder they work the more benefits they will be ale to reap. As written in On Liberty “These are not questions of liberty….but they are questions of development” (Mill)
The alliance that had formed between two super powers, U.S and USSR during World War II was not strong enough to overcome the past decades of suspicion and unease between the two nations. Unwilling to compromise because of paranoia about their postwar national security created high tension atmosphere in U.S- Soviet Union’s relationship. This unstable partnership finally cracked due to the defeat of Nazi German: An unnatural alliance that was bound to fall apart after the defeat of the common enemy can be considered the origin of the Cold War.The Cold War had an enormous impact on the United States politically, socially, and economically including Red hunts, unconditionally fear of Communism and McCarthyism in the period 1940s-1950s, also shaped U.S.’s political agendas. This war ended as the reform programs introduced by Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, which unexpectedly led to the collapse of Soviet Union. The...