The Dreamer

The New Deal was a series of US government actions during the turbulent time of the Great Depression, under the Presidency of F.D.R. A common claim that people make in regards to the New Deal is this: “The New Deal was a wise series of government actions that healed the problems afflicting the economy.” Is this claim really accurate?

An example of the government actions during the New Deal was the National Industrial Recovery Act, which was designed to provide stability to businesses but to prevent competition. To authorize fair wages and prices. This ultimately was not beneficial whatsoever to the small business and instead benefited large businesses, which had multiple locations in various areas. Because the only way that small businesses could compete with large businesses is through low prices, the small businesses suffered because they could not compete with low prices. Another example of a New Deal government action was the Agricultural Adjustment Act. This was carried out by destroying already grown crops to raise prices; also the government limited the number of acres. The outcome of this was the unemployment of two million share or tenant farmers, and not enough food being produced to feed the country.

The New Deal was not a series of wise government actions that healed the problems afflicting the economy, which is clearly seen in some of the examples listed above. The moral of the story is that government intervention is usually not clean-cut and most likely causes more harm than good.

In Western history during the majority of the 19th century the West experienced a historical phenomena known as the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution brought a surge of change and development in western society, with more technological advancements than ever before. Because the Industrial Revolution was such an important and changing period in history the standard of living was affected. How was the standard of living affected by the industrial revolution?

The standard of living during the industrial revolution was affected greatly in the positive direction. The industrial revolution brought forth more opportunities for workers. Instead of having to work as a farmer or a tradesman of some form now lower class workers were able to choose different options for jobs. Income rates increased greatly during the Industrial Revolution especially for the lower class which of course affected the standard of living for the good. Thus, in short the standard of living in the west was affected very much in the positive direction by the industrial revolution.

The main view of the public school of economics is: individuals are self interested: they remain self interested when they enter government. This is very unlike the more “romantic,” or “idealistic,” view being that people in government are committed to public good, or are “public servants.” With the main view of the public school of economics in mind, what are some of the major arguments advanced by the public school of economics? 

One of the major arguments advanced by the public school of economics is that in the free market, one can receive a benefit or face the consequences in an exchange. This is unlike politics because officials do not face any form of feedback or consequence in the form of voting. Another important argument is on the topic of voting. When a person votes for a politician they do not vote for that politician because they agree with him/her fully. Most likely that person disagrees with many of the beliefs or points that the politician believes; which means that the only reason why that person is voting for this person in the first place is because the politician shares a similar belief in a large or important issue, that the voter feels strongly about. 

To conclude, these are some of the major arguments advanced by the public school of economics.

After World War II countries in Africa began to slip away from Western control and began governing themselves. The outcome of this was a mixed result, due to the fact that some of those countries ended up with very restrictive and controlling governments. What kind of success did Africa have the governments that wielded great powers over the different African economics?

Africa did not have great success whatsoever with governments that wielded great economic power. The individual African countries that adopted this form of government suffered greatly, with severe economic lows, low production rate, corrupt leaders, etc. This form of government actually made the countries who adopted it poorer and less successful overall. Thus in short, this was the kind of success Africa had with governments that wielded great powers over the different African economies. 

Karl Marx(1818-1883), was a German political philosopher who compiled the ideas of the political ideology of communism. Marx believed very fully that communism was effective, and was bound to happen in the near future(which did in fact happen in some countries). Because Marx was a heavy believer of communism he had many criticisms toward capitalism. What are some of Marx’s criticisms of capitalism?

The first criticism of Marx that must be noted is how he believed that capitalism is based on the concept of “exploitation” of wage labor. A lot of Marx’s criticism towards capitalism was based on how a capitalistic economy apparently treated their workers. Another specific criticism is that in capitalism the producer only produces things that the consumer(buyer)wants. His argument was that in communism this would not be the case and that instead the producer could make what he wants to make, not what the people who give him business in the first place want. This would not exactly be an effective business decision whatsoever. The way that the producer is able to make money is by making what his consumer(buyer)wants, because why else would the consumer buy from him? It is clear that Marx was not exactly the most economically sound person.

Marx was very critical of capitalism, and believed quite fully that capitalism was all bad and that it did nothing good towards the working class. This was completely regardless of the truth that the majority of the things that come along with capitalism actually makes sense, and are effective economically.

Facism was a political ideology that became widespread in Europe during the earlier portion of the 20th century. A few influential European powers, such as Germany, adopted it. The ideology itself is quite controversial and many can agree that it overall was a negative in history. But what is facism? What are the primary values of this political ideology?

A fascist government has a heavy emphasis on the nation, and is very nationalistic. Instead of focusing on the triumphs of the individual fascism encourages the focusing of the triumphs of the state. That the “Good of the Nation,” is more important than the rights of the individual. Fascism promotes a planned government, instead of a government that is dictated by the people. In short, these were the primary values of fascism.