AP+U.S.+HISTORY

Capitalism is a free market system where individuals or corporations control the mass production, distribution, and exchange of goods and services by using capital (assets-money) to produce a bigger profit. The supply and demand of a product determines the cost of a product.
 * 1) What is capitalism?

2. What form of capitalism does the United States practice? What are the details of this form of capitalism? Mixed economy is the form of capitalism that is practiced in the United States, which means it is consisted of both public and private corporations. Most Americans strongly believe that an economy based on private owned corporations is more effective than an economy fairly consisted of government owned enterprises because they are afraid the government having too much power. Mixed economy is a mixture of socialism and capitalism because it contains features from capitalism, and socialism. Mixed economy is more liberated but it has to try to avoid problems that mostly affect socialistic and capitalistic economies. Some of the actions (production, distribution, and exchange) that take place in a mixed economy are put into play by the government, who also create the goals, policies, regulations, and control workforce. On the other hand industries have the right to hire and fire anyone they wish as long as it isn’t for discriminatory reasons. The people also have the right to apply for employment anywhere they wish. For example when NASA (a government owned industry) turned over space exploring, and travel to private industries.

3. Why does the U.S. practice capitalism – why is it the system that the founders of the United States established? The founding fathers of the United States chose to establish capitalism after fighting the British for unfair taxation and the control trade. The founding fathers wanted to give the American people the freedom that they didn’t have under the King’s rule. They encouraged private owned businesses so people can enjoy their profits (“fruits of their labor”); they wanted everyone to have a chance to participate in the economy and earn money instead of only the wealthy monopolizing the economic opportunities because it advocated “competition without barriers”. I think this system is still practiced in the United States because it works and it creates a playing field where anyone can play equally.

4. What are the positives and negatives of having this economic system?

POSITIVES

 * ====Provides competitive field in which everyone has a chance to make money. ====
 * ====Encourages economic growth more money being made more money being spent. ====
 * ====Different people get paid differently based on the job’s effect in society. (Higher your education, higher position you have in a company, more money you make). ====

NEGATIVES

 * ====If the economy is breaking down the poorer classes suffer more than the wealthier classes. ====
 * ====The excess growth of the economy could put our natural resources in danger. ====
 * ====Worker’s salary might be cut in order to get as much as possible out of a product. ====

5. What is democracy? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Democracy is a type of government that is based on the participation of people whether by individual votes, or elected representatives. In democracy the government’s power is in its citizens and the people can make the decisions by voting but in a representative democracy the people delegate representatives to vote on major issues(war, laws,).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">6. What form of democracy does the United States practice? What are the details of this form of democracy? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The United States practices representative democracy which the people choose representatives, and senators to speak for them and make decisions which are in their constituency’s best interest. People choose representatives and delegate power to them so they can make laws to protect the people. The representatives in this form of democracy are the legislature The House of Representatives and the House of Senate who draft bills, debate them in congress, and vote on them so they can be laws. They are given this job so the people in America aren’t voting on everything because they would never completely agree.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">7. Why does the U.S. practice democracy – why is it the system that the founders established? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">When the colonists won their independence from Britain the founding fathers established a representative democracy as a form of government in order to ensure that the government was for people and it was by the people. The founding fathers didn't want to be controlled by a monarchy again they wanted to have a say in their government. When the constitution was drafted and ratified The Bill of Rights was included so it can protect the people's rights. The Constitution also includes articles that explain each branch of the government's function, its freedom and its restriction to guarantee that the government will never have too much power nor will it take advantage of the people it represents. The United States continues to practice representative democracy today because it works and it protects the people and restricts government from having too much power.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">8. What are the positives and negatives of having this system? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">POSITIVES: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">NEGATIVES:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Majority rule. Makes making decisions easier.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Everyone has a say in their government.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Checks and balances- no branch of government can have too much power.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Those who disagree with the Majority are forced by law to accept the Majorities idea.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">People might be more interested in what they want than what the country needs so they don't vote.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">9. Please watch Michael Moore’s 2009 documentary “Capitalism: A Love Story” and summarize 4 or 5 of his main points. Also, please critique his arguments – what does he leave out, what problems do you find with his approach, etc. Make sure you relate the film to your earlier research on capitalism and democracy
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Michael Moore talks about the competition that corporations in the U.S. faced and how those competitors beat United States’ companies because after the death of Jimmy Carter people who worked for him went to Germany and Japan and helped them establish a document similar to the second bill of rights that was suggested by Carter that protected the middle class from the greed of the wealthy.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">700 billion dollars were given to Banks and other corporations in order to bail them out. That money was used to give people bonuses, it was used to buy private jets, and rent vacation resorts. Why wasn't this money used to help the American people? Why do companies make more money when people are suffering?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Employers take out insurances policies on their employees in case their employees die. The employees who died are sometimes referred too as "Dead Peasants". That is wrong no one should ever make money from the death of an employee.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">After corporations such as GM declared bankruptcy, unions were destroyed, hundreds of people were laid off, the workers that remained had to work harder for little pay in order to keep up with demands, the sale for anti-depressants went up and the price for health care went up too. Everyone was affected. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> In the documentary Capitalism: A Love Story Michael Moore carefully describes what capitalism is and what happened that changed everything. Moore's argument focuses on the corporations and how they took and continue to take advantage of a system that has worked for decades. He jumps around from the past to the present explaining how the problem started and how it spread. I think his argument is solid, and real because he talks to real people who have been through losing homes, and jobs because of the capitalistic economy that is supposed to give them all an equal chance at earning money. I think he should have included the changes that were made in order to guarantee this gluttony of money doesn’t happen again. Were there changes made? Is this a degree of corruption? I think that Michael Moore agrees with idea of capitalism because it does give people a chance to own their own businesses but he doesn't agree with the greed that people catch and he doesn't agree with the way greedy people conduct their business at the expense of everyone else.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">10. What is the relationship between capitalism and democracy? How do they work together, how do their principles coincide and how do they oppose each other?

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Capitalism and Democracy both have similar and different principles. They both encourage individual rights, people have an influence in both the capitalistic system as well as democracy as a form of government by demanding more products and by voting for who represents them. Democracy guarantees no one person will have too much power and the right to vote while capitalism doesn't guarantee any power it will always be a dog-eat-dog system. The two systems are supposed to work to ensure the prosperity of America but when they don't they start its destruction starting with the people's homes and occupations.

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__**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">SOURCES **__
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