Socialism, Communism, and Capitalism

In class we did an activity where Mrs. Gleason handed out 3 Hershey kisses to everyone, except 2 people got 10 kisses and 2 people got 2 kisses. She was acting as the government and she was performing capitalism where how hard you work is how much you get paid. Then we all played rock/paper/scissor together to see who would get more kisses and who would lose some. This game was fun because it had a sense of competitiveness and everyone wanted to get more kisses. Although it was also frustrating because the people who had more kisses didn't even have to play to get more because they already had more than anyone else could ever get.

Karl Marx's theory of communism starts with Capitalism where everyone starts out with their own money and some become rich but most become poor. But then to make things more fair the people would create a system of government called Socialism where the government would distribute everyone the same amount of money so everyone would be on an even playing field. Then eventually the people would create Communism where there would be no government needed and all people would agree to share the money evenly(www.youtube.com). Smith' theory of the invisible hand was that the government was too controlling. He said that if the government just let the economy run its course then everything would work out fine. He realized that if people needed money they would start selling a product such as bread. so once someone realized that that was a good idea another person would start a bread store. But to compete for more customers they would have to lower there price or make a better product. Then there would be supply and demand for bread and the small store would have to expand and hire workers (the poor) to supply bread faster. Therefore this would benifit the poor very well.

In my opinion Smith's invisible hand theory is the best. I believe that this is a good solution to solving the economy and helping the poor because there really is no flaw in this theory of supply and demand. The most wealthy people will be the business owners of course but the more rich that they get the more they are going to have to supply there product which means more and more jobs for people without one. I do not believe that there is an alternative way to run the economy, this is the fairest and most reasonable way I can think of!

21st Century Child Labor Eye Opener

Today in class we had a Socratic seminar on child labor today. I thought I said a few interesting points and here's what they consisted of. First I said that I was very surprised at how young the children involved in child labor actually were, the fact that these kids were as young as 5 and 6 was ridiculous! I also talked about some of the worst forms of child labor that people sometimes forget about such as prostitution and drug trafficking. That was one of the obvious reasons NOT to support child labor. But, the only thing I did say defending child labor was that some of these kids are volunteering to work without considering the safety precautions because they have to work to provide for there families! Other than what I said there were many points said that I hadn't realized.

Some things I hadn't thought about were also said about child labor during our Socratic seminar. Like how Sam R said that although some children have to work to provide for their families, she wouldn't call that volunteering because their situation forces them to have to work. Which I thought was a great point. I also heard David D say that he didn't realize how serious child abuse was in the United States, he thought it was only a problem in other countries. I also didn't realize how bad child abuse still is here in the U.S.. One last thing I heard that really stuck out to me was when Meghan B said that she agreed that a lot of people involved in child labor are bringing home a paycheck, but what about the orphans who don't have anyone making sure they get paid and are treated right. Kids should not be allowed to be working in those dangerous conditions.

As a group I think we did a great job with keeping the conversation alive and never running out of ideas. I also think that everyone did a great job with speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. Although we did have some areas to work on. I think our group relied a bit too much on Mrs. Gleasons questions instead of generating our own. Another area some people needed to improve on was sharing their thoughts. It seemed like the same few kids had to keep keeping the conversation alive. Other than those few chinks I think we had a great discussion!

Population of Britain and France

Tyler Petrillo                                                                                                         D Block                                                                                                              

Note: this graph is not the way I wanted it because the website wouldn’t work.

I see Britain's population increased by 4million people in 100 years. This is probably because this was a healthy century for the country. I also notice that France's population increased by 8 million people in 74 years (the graph is supposed to show this). This probably means that there weren't many diseases going around during this time in France. Lastly, I see that France's population increased more than Britain. This is probably because there were more job opportunities in France.

Industrial Revolution

An assignment where we were asked to pretend we were in the industrial revolution and collect information.

Tyler Petrillo History 10

9/16/14 F block

City Inspector

This report dated 9/16/14 has been provided for the urban planning committees of various cities in England.  My name is Tyler Petrillo, and as a mid-level city inspector I trust that you will use the information within to determine appropriate needs in urban planning for your municipalities.  My report has been through as I have made use of all the sources available to me and have worked to guide you through my own analysis and critical thinking to a full description of the issues facing our cities.

There were not many positive views on the Industrial Revolution at the time. But there definitely were some, like in Doc E where I heard the working rooms were spacious and lofty. Also one of the biggest positive parts of the IR was the fact that many, many jobs were created in the factories(Doc B). Another pro was that some people actually told me that there were very rarely accidents or injuries with the machines(Doc B)! Those are a few positives from the IR.

Unfortunately I've realized that the negative views on the IR outweigh the positives. During the IR there was a huge amount of child labor going on (Doc C). It was also very hard to breathe in the factories which is not good for the workers health (Doc D). One of the biggest negatives to the IR is the fact that it caused so much pollution to the environment (Doc A). Lastly, people had to work so many continuous hours that people started looking prematurely old (Doc D). Those are a few of the negatives from the IR.

At the time I think the Industrialism had an overall negative impact in these cities. Although many people that may have been unemployed and without money to live without the factories, I think there were many more deaths due to the toxins the workers were breathing in. I also think it was not worth the damage caused to the environment due to all the pollution and smoke.