Government Essay -- essays research papers

Governments Today Should governments today play a greater role in the operation of their economies? In a perfect world everyone would have a job, and would have all which they need to live, however, this is not always the case. Poorer countries may not have the necessary productivity to sustain their economies, working conditions may be awful, or sometimes people may not even have the right to own and operate their own business. This situation is probably caused from too much government intervention. On the other hand, if there is too little government intervention the workers rights could be exploited in order for the industry owners to make more profit. In order for a nation’s economy to be successful, that nation must have high productivity, rights for all of its population, and a high standard of living. This can be achieved through some government regulation and the successful use of some points of the market economy system. Some countries that have, or had, a failing economy used centrall y planned economic ideologies. The Soviet Union is a good example of a country that has used centrally planned economic ideas and that has had their economy fail. The failure of the Soviet Union’s economy was the effect of no substantial change in the way the economy was run in over 60 years. In 1928, Stalin wanted to improve the country’s economy by increasing its industrialization. In order for increased industrialization, an increase of productivity was in need. The first five-year plan Stalin implemented drastically increased the USSR’s production of steel, electric power, machinery, and new industries. However, peasants, who were once farmers and now worked in factories, were frustrated since they were not prepared for their new way of life. These peasants were forced to work in the factories since new machinery had replaced them on the farms were they once worked. However, the new machinery helped to increase agricultural production since they were more ef ficient and effective. The larger collective farms that could afford the modern machinery were urged to act against the kulaks (rich peasant farmers). The kulaks refused to sell their excess grain were forced to hand over their land to the government. Most of them burned their crops, killed their livestock, and destroyed the machinery in attempts to defy the government. The kulaks caused famine to sweep over th... ... conditions, because factory owners did not regard the safety of their workers, many workers often died because of their jobs, or suffered great injuries that would not able them to work at all. The Soviet Unions’ economic collapse and the Industrial Revolution workers working conditions tell us that a mixed economic system is the best choice for today’s countries. This is because with out government control in the economy workers can be exploited with out any regard for their safety or well being. However, in an economy, where there is total government control the workers may lose initiative to work and the economy may collapse. The best examples of a stable economy that protects the rights of the people are the United States and Canada. This is because their productivity increases as their population increases, and the workers do not face horrible working conditions. Also, Canada and the United States enjoy a high standard of living, and people can enjoy the freed om to operate their own private businesses. Simply government control is necessary to protect the rights of people, but some points of the capitalist economic system are necessary to take care of the consumer’s needs.