Capitalism VS Socialism

Recently, there have been clamors on the economic system capitalism in different parts of the world. To trace what caused these clamors, we should look at the root which triggered all of these. The movement called "Occupy Wall Street" or OWS movement, which started in the U.S., motivated many people around the world to change the economic system and question the wealth distribution in their respective countries. In the US, the increasing gap between the rich and the poor has triggered the lower classes to unite. After the sub-prime crisis, many Americans have lost their jobs and their homes. For these people, the main cause of these economic and financial turmoil is the greediness of the capitalists, mainly the bankers. The start of a wild commotion has sparked after the authorities forcibly pushed the homeowners to get out of their own houses for not paying their mortgages in the prescribed time by lenders. A domino effect was created when the people started to default. Even the companies that were categorized as "too big too fail" were shaken by this phenomenon. Who should be the one to be blame? the bankers? the regulators or government? or the people? This is a complicated problem. The only way to solve this problem is to know what caused this downturn. Is this what capitalism has in store for us? Will changing our economic system make our country better? The shout of the OWS movement is "Socialism", which will enable the equal wealth distribution of the people.

To understand the clamors of the people, we should first know what exactly is socialism and what is capitalism. In socialism, all enterprises, businesses, corporations, or income-generating institutions are owned by the state. These businesses are not mainly motivated by profit, since it is state-owned and all its employees have the same amount of income. In the end, all the profits of these income-generating institutions are all distributed to its employees. Fair? At first sight, yes it is, but no economic system is perfect. What do you think is the problem with this? Some literature claim that socialism is the first step to communism. The state or the government tend to change its mind set into a greedier state. With all the work piled up on them, and they get same pay as a blue-collar worker, they tend to think that they deserve better pay and treatment. Now, what is the problem there? greed, corruption, and a step closer to communism. In contrast with socialism, the economic system most of the countries around the world have which is capitalism is motivated to create profits. If you live in a capitalist country, you are familiar with it. Businesses can be owned by any one, and any one can set up its own one. In this system, people are paid according to their jobs, from executive position to the security guard. If you would think about it, everyone is at equal footing here. Although money is the main weapon here, the better you are at what you're doing, the higher the chance that you can beat the system and create money as you wished. The best example would be Bill Gates. So, the criticism of inequality in the system is really invalid. Human beings are naturally greedy. That's why capitalism is the best way to suppress that greediness. Inequality in this system only comes when there is a breach in the regulations. Just like in the sub-prime crisis, sub-prime loans were given mainly because of the "light watch" regulation, where regulations were not implemented strictly. So, the bankers took it as an opportunity to give out loans. To mitigate the risks of the loans the banks gave out, financial derivatives were traded around the world. And that's what triggered the crisis. At present time, the Euro zone is still affected by he crisis.

At the end of the day, no one really knows what is the best economic system. Even countries like North Korea and Russia don't believe in the concept of democratic capitalism or democratic socialism. These countries are prospering in its totalitarian economic system, but in the expense of its people. Now, the question here is: What is more important; your country? or the people? As far as I'm concerned, it is the country. People are animals. They are destroyers. An efficient leader and government should control its people.