1. 2nd
Assignment
July
13, 2009
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system which the means of production and distribution are privately or
corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits
gained in the free market. Retrieved from http://www. Answer.com, July 10, 2009. Capitalism in other
words benefits large production company, industry, large institutions and organizations whose major
goal is to accumulate wealth and reinvest to gain more wealth. Capitalism is a form of exclusion of the
masses and oppression for many others.
Capitalism allows for the “have” to portion out to the “have-nots” a meager existence just as
democratization is a matter of political inclusion of different groups and categories, for which equality
can hide exclusion and oppression.
Currently, as the government bails out banks and auto companies the thought of Robin Hood taking
from the poor and giving to the rich strikes a cord. Or is it the reverse? Perhaps if government takes a
majority share of banks, auto companies and large co operations and distributes wealth to the masses
then capitalism will benefit the working class. Fowler in “The Emergence of Capitalism” states that
capitalism was born with the Industrial Revolution, causing major economic changes but new ideas
about economics. The down turn in the US economy has caused major shifts in economic decisions,
fuel efficiency, solar and wind systems just to mention a few. This down turn has caused citizens to
rethink investments, purchases of goods and service and even have brought back the notion of eating at
home and more family interaction. We have begun as a nation to seek global cooperation from our
neighbors around the world to manage climate change and economics systems.
Capitalism
Domination of social classes is influenced by capitalism such conditions as wages and salaries,
gaining of promotions, housing, and even the mode of transportation all are dictated by wealth. Smith,
in The Wealth of Nations, (1776) argues that humans have a natural desire to pursue their own
economic self-interest. Many Americans and lots of Republicans seem to feel that small business
promote economic growth and hire more workers. This may be so, but the purpose of small business is
to amass wealth and to pass it on to future generations. I agree that small businesses have a place in
our capitalistic society but we should be clear that rarely is wealth passed on to the working class.
According to Fowler the Industrial Revolution brought about new ideas about the free-market and in
a sense small business is a free-enterprise, an idea or product is marketed to the public and the demand
determines the staying power or success of the business. During the Reaganomics new ideas about
economics brought about a four- part economic policy which was an idea of supply-side economics: 1.
Indexing taxes to inflation, 2. Reducing taxes, 3. Reducing government expenditures and 4.
Deregulation, these ideas caused a rise in the federal deficit which caused a recession.
Recession causes unstable conditions in the economic system and unstableness in the economic
system has had ripple effects on educational policies and support or lack thereof for new initiatives,
grants and funding for school programs. Urban schools suffer the most in economic down-turns. Urban
school systems fall in the “Misery Index” its misery when teachers lack the newest technology,
textbooks for every child, not enough teachers or supplies to support student learning. I know the
Misery Index is calculated by adding the unemployment rate to the
Capitalism
inflation rate but the Misery Index to teachers is low pay, NCLB ACT, layoffs, reorganization of
schools, children who lack pre-school training, unmotivated students and apathy from state and local
officials.

2. The imperative of capitalism is the movement of capital (wealth) those who have wealth to reinvest
to gain more capital. In maintaining capital one maintains his/her position whether it is private or
corporate and keeps the minority separate from the majority who have the capital. The Department of
Education bases per pupil revenue to schools from property owners, businesses, and taxes. In some
school districts education per pupil payments is a third to fourth higher than in smaller or urban
schools, this factor alone separate the majority from the minority.
Local school systems are affected by globalization in that the local economy is affected by the
transfer of goods outside of the local economy. Jobs leaving the community, business establishing
outside of the US, the local economy no longer depends on local resources because goods are readily
available from the global environment. The advent of computer, and the internet, technology that
allows instant access to the world, navigations systems, on-line banking have all impacted the local
economic system. The globalization of the economic has further separated the majority from the
minority and divided the country into social classes.
Which leads to the third question what is the social class make up of your school community, and
what implications does that have for educational policy? For the first time I rode around the
community where my school is located. This happened last week when a bus was blocking the
driveway and I decided to ride down a few blocks to see what the neighborhood looked like, I’ve been
assigned there since 2005. The neighborhood which was once considered middle class had
Capitalism
fallen to vacant and boarded up houses, vacant lots where homes once stood and the homes that were
left some were well taken care of and some were in disrepair. The revenue from the tax base just in
this neighborhood would be less than adequate and members in the neighborhood are less able to
support the school and the school activities. Once a neighborhood were manufacturing and businesses
were profiting and growth was steady, now most of the industry and manufacturing jobs have relocated
and many have gone abroad leaving little if any jobs for those left. Over 70% of the neighborhood is of
residents 65 and older, retired or unemployed, and this statistic represents many parts of the city. Little
if any new housing is being developed and the prospects of growth are not predicted.
These conditions are significant for a large urban school district. The local school board and local
school administrators are unable to muster significant effort to impact the education of the children and
the state’s budget decreases its funding yearly. Unemployment of families, families moving to other
states and localities has increased the shortfall of revenues to the school thus impacting the quality of
education and educational services.
In conclusion, capitalism effects both the minority and the majority, it is what separates the classes,
can cause economic systems to expand or decline and affects educational funding for the most needy.