CAPITALISM VS. COMMUNISM“BrainPop: Communism” video worksheet

I. Definition of communism

Communism is an economic system where wealth is ____________________ to everybody.

Commuism is the ___________ of capitalism, where everyone ________________to make money.

In a pure communist society, there would be___________________, and everyone would be __________ in wealth and social status.

II. Description of communist countries

The reality is that communist countries tend to be ______________, concentrating power in the hands of _________ people or even one dictator.

Most communist societies have ended up benefiting __________, at the expense of _____________________.

Communist states like ___________ and ________________are examples of those tendencies.

III. Brief history of communism

Communism was the creation of ___________ and_________________, two German philosophers. In the late 19th century, they published a short political pamphlet called “The Communist Manifesto.”

Marx and Engels thought that capitalism had created a society of _____________________: the proletariat and the bourgeoisie

Proletariat => the____________________, which made up the majority of society Bourgeoisie => the___________________, who owned ____________(factories, buildings, property, money)

According to Marx and Engels, capitalism _____________ the proletariat, making people work long hours and meaningless jobs for not enough money. Meanwhile, the bourgeoisie gets all the rewards of their hard work.

The “Manifesto” predicted that the proletariat would ____________ against the bourgeoisie – they would take over the factories and governments, and eventually set up a new society where everyone’s work would be______________________

By the early 20th century, some governments were being replaced with communist ones – first in___________, then in _____________. But in both of these countries, the communist leaders quickly established _______________ governments, putting most of the power in the hand of a___________________.

IV. Results of communism Communist societies have a _________________ economy,

meaning just about everything is controlled by the_______________. That puts a lot of power into very few people’s hands.

Most communist countries haven’t had very successful economies

The _________________ (which included communist Russia) collapsed in the early 1990s.

_____________has begun to switch back to a market economy – capitalism

Cuba and North Korea both _______________________ from other countries to survive.

Some say that communism has a built-in problem – no matter how hard you work, you still get the ________________. There is a lot less of a reason for people to put in their best effort.

TURN OVER FOR QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS:

1. Contrast capitalism and communism in four different ways:

Capitalism Communism

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

4. 4.

2. Why have countries with a communist economy not been historically successful?

3. Would you want to live and work in a communist economy? Why or why not?