Economics 101: Capitalism vs Communism

And the clear winner is capitalism.

The downfall of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked the failure of communism. Even China has started practising capitalism, although the government is currently led by a Communist party.

Today, the only two countries where its economy is wholly centrally controlled by the government are Cuba and North Korea.

The dangers of communism could be clearly seen during the period of the Great Leap Forward (1958-1961) in China. The Great Leap Forward was a total failure and it caused 36 to 45 million deaths.

I remember watching a documentary on the Great Leap Forward. During that time, every single Chinese citizen has to work for the government. All private ownerships were expropriated by the government.

So, the Chinese were working in the government owned farms and factories on an almost 24/7 basis. Food and shelter were provided by the government. It was just like in prison, except that the prison is the entire China. As a result, sometimes there were not enough food and so, some of them began practising cannibalism. Probably, that's the reason why some of them are still practising cannibalism in the inner regions of China. Rumour said so.

So, it is not a good idea for a government to centrally control its economy entirely. Taking a good look at Cuba and North Korea will tell you that.