Transcript Socialism - Kids Town Hall

Socialism
By: Maria
Introduction…
Define Socialism…
Socialism is a centrally planned economy in which the
government controls all means of production.
If you were to live in a Socialistic Community, you wouldn't
be able to think for yourselves. You would rely on the
government and they would do everything for you.
At first, you may think this is a good idea, but over time it
resolves to eliminating your rights. Socialism also lowers the
average income of a working person and lowers the ability to
grow personal wealth.
Socialism =
Bigger Government
This is against every thing our
Founding Fathers planned for us!
Types of Socialism…
• There are three main types of Socialism:
– Marxism: the economic and political theories of Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels that class struggle is needed to create a historical
change.
– Eco-Socialism: The use of ecological problems, such as climate
change to persuade people to support government control of
private industry.
• Eco-socialists would blame the traditional Right, (conservative),
for overlooking or not properly addressing ecological problems.
– Man Made Global Warming: The attribution of recent
climate change in the effort to create needs for a socialistic
government.
– Communism: a social structure in which, social classes are
abolished and property and production is commonly controlled by
a central government..
Karl Marx
Friedrich Engels
What is Wealth
Redistribution?
• A main part of the theory of Socialism is Wealth
Redistribution . This is the spreading of wealth by the
government from high wage earners to lower income
earners in order to make things “equalized and fair.”
With the use of Tax Dollars , the government levies high
taxes on higher incomes and redistributes it as
entitlements to lower wage earners.
An example of wealth redistribution, put into terms of an
everyday middle school student:
Imagine you have a math test that you studied
extremely hard for to get a good grade. You take the test
and the next day you find out you got a 75, but you got
all the questions right. You go to your teacher and ask
them why you got a 75, they tell you, “The other 25% of
the grade has gone to the other students who didn’t do as
well as you.”
Even though you worked hard for your grade, the other
students who didn’t study for the test got the same grade
as you, just because you got a better grade then them.
Information…
Who is involved?
Socialism is not a new idea, Marx wrote the Communist
Manifesto in 1848 . Since then many different forms of
Socialism have been tried and have all FAILED. In every
instance, all attempts at creating true socialist governments
have resulted in weak economies and the reduction of human
rights at the hands of very powerful governments.
In our government, there are some congressman,
senators, or maybe even our own president, who agree with
the theory of Socialism, this is very dangerous. Though we
may not have recognized it, we have been shown many
examples of Socialism very recently. Such as:
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Socialized Healthcare
Welfare
Government Bailouts
Economic Stimulus
Government “Take Over” of car companies
Where is it happening?
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Many countries around the world are involved with the political
theory of Socialism. These countries include:
– Cuba
– North Korea*
*Note that most of these countries are
found in the Eastern Hemisphere where
– Venezuela
Marx and Engels first wrote about the
– China*
Communist Manifesto.
– Vietnam*
– Syria*
**All attempts of Socialism have failed
– Belarus *
in these countries. This is evidence that
Socialism does not work.
– Sweden*
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Angola**
Greece**
Spain**
Soviet Union**
Poland**
Why you should care…
Socialism…
•Strengthens government’s control over
individual freedom.
•Weakens individual rights
•Lowers economic production and limits
individual wealth
•Our own system of government allows for
a possible Socialist take over of our
democracy.
What we could do to change
this…
Understand what Socialism is
Educate others on this topic
Recognize the signs
Get involved with pro-democratic
and free market organizations
• Take your civic duty seriously and
vote for those who will fight
Socialism in our society.
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Where can students go for
more information?
Websites:
• www.heritage.org
• www.teaparty.org
Organizations:
CPAC*
*Highly recommended (I went here, trust me it helps,
for more information visit the “Organizations” tab!)
Questions? Comments?
• We want to know what you think!
• Visit the comments tab to voice
your motive!