Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism: Which is Better?

In class, we were given Starbursts.  Most people (including me) got three, but three people got around ten Starbursts. Then, we played “Rock, Paper, Scissors” with other people in the class. The loser gave a Starburst to the winner.  Some people got extremely competitive, and were very protective of their Starbursts.  In some cases, people would steal Starbursts, use violence, or hide with their candy.  Personally, I was kind of glad to get out because the activity was a little too crazy for me, and also I didn’t really think that fighting for a piece of candy was worth it.  After, our teacher collected all the Starbursts and gave everyone three pieces.  The people who had a lot of candy were unhappy, and the people who didn't have any candy were glad to be equal.  This activity started out as Capitalism, and it ended as socialism.  

Karl Marx believed that eventually the poor people would become angry with the unfairness of society.  He predicted that they would want to be equal to the rich people in society, and they would have a revolution.  The government would then take control of the situation by taking hold of all the property and redistributing throughout the social classes. This would be called socialism.  Eventually, the people would learn how to share among each other and no government would be needed, resulting in Communism.  A man by the name of Adam Smith created a mix of Capitalism and Socialism called the Invisible Hand. Every part of society would be the same as Capitalism except the market. The government would let the businesses and people run the economy. Eventually, the markets could efficiently run themselves and prices would even out. Unfortunately, there would often be pauses and the government would have to step in and regulate prices.  

   In a class discussion, all forms of government were discussed. Some felt that Capitalism was very "everyone for themselves".  However, they did not think Communism was a good idea. They agreed that humans are too greedy for Communism to really work, and it would lead right back to the beginning.  It was decided that Socialism is better than Communism. But, people said that Socialism takes away the natural right to want to succeed. Hard-working people would still only do as well as lazy people.  

Between Communism and the Invisible Hand, I think neither is a good solution.  Both end up needing the government’s assistance.  Also, they have never actually been achieved.  However, I think that the Invisible Hand would work better than Communism because most people are too greedy for Communism.  Overall, I feel that a slight mix between Socialism and Capitalism.  People can make a lot of their own decisions, and there is not an extremely large gap between rich and poor.  There also isn’t a complete feeling of having to fight for yourself which can sometimes be seen in Capitalism.  Although good in theory, most government-less societies never work.