Communism!

Pros Cons

Which of the following scenarios do you find more preferable? What scenario do you think is the better system?

Scenario One

• You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else’s cows. You have to take care of all of the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need.

Scenario Two

You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.

• Scenario 3

Everyone brings in crayons. I take everyone’s crayons and put them together in a box for everyone to use.

Which scenario is on the same wavelength as Scenario 1? Scenario 2?

• Scenario 4• Everyone brings in their own crayons and uses their own

crayons.

The difference?

Communism

• Government owns everything!

Mixed Economy (Capitalism and Communism)

• Businesses are privately owned. (i.e. McDonalds, private school)

• Government controls some stuff. (i.e. roads, post office, public schools)

Capitalism and Mixed Economy

• You own your own business and make your own way.• A mixed economy is an economy that includes a variety

of private and public control.

Communism

• Everyone works.• Everyone gets paid the same amount.• Everyone gets taxed the same amount.• The government owns everything and distributes it as it

decides what is fair.• Pay is based on how hard you work.• Jobs are distributed.• No class system—No poor, middle class, and rich

societies.

Countries that practice(d) Communism

• China• The former USSR (Soviet Union) Now the countries that

include Belarus, Lithuania, and Russia• Cuba• North Korea• Vietnam• Laos• The former Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic)

Countries with Mixed Economy

• United States• Canada• Japan • Australia• Germany• United Kingdom

What have we learned?

I’ve learned that…

Laos

The Lao People's Democratic Republic is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west. Its population was estimated to be 6.8 million in 2009