What we will be learning this week and into next week is that our economic landscape is constantly shifting and changing. As the needs of the citizens change in the economy, so does the government response. Each system has its pros and cons, and like I've said several times, a large part of what you need to determine is which government actions you see as the "right" solution to the economic situation.
We have looked at both the pros and cons of capitalism and communism. But, like I said in class, there is no country that has used either one of these ideologies exactly the way in which the theory said it should be used and the circumstances that it should be used in. Because of that, most economic systems and ideologies are actually a mixture (hence the term mixed economies) of aspects of capitalism and communism. A more right-wing economic system will have more aspects of capitalism - lower taxes, less government services, mostly if not all private property and a greater focus on self-reliance while following a free market. A more left-wing economic system will have more aspects that lead towards communism - higher taxes that are used to provide greater government services to give people a social safety net, public ownership of major industries and corporations, a focus on cooperation to ensure economic equality. As significant events happen in the economy affecting production of goods and service, as well as job security, governments make decisions on what is the course of action to take to solve the problem. Often, the decisions will be a departure from the current economic philosophy to something different only to find the shift back to the original view years later. The point is, as the economy changes, so do economic philosophies; this is why we call it the evolution of modern economic thought :)
One of the first steps in this evolution was the implementation of Welfare Capitalism and the Square Deal.This week, we will look at several other huge economic events and how they helped our economic theories evolve in North America.
What your super fun week will look like:
Monday:
Finish review sheets for communism and go through practice multiple choice
Start on the shift to modern liberalism - why did the government start getting involved?
Stage 1: Fixing the problems of the Industrial Revolution
Classical Conservatism
Societal Changes - the government gets involved
Tuesday
Notes - Shift to Modern Liberalism - Who's rights are more important?
Last week, we looked at the downfalls of capitalism and also started to look at the opposite of capitalism: Communism. To start with, we looked at the less extreme version of that, which was democratic socialism. The case study that we looked at to show these values were of Robert Owen and New Lanark in Scotland, which was generally seen as a successful social experiment. Some of the main ideas incorporate that people are looking out for one another and, in general, are helping the group achieve success and prosperity, as opposed to being individually responsible for that.
But, as with everything, there were problems that were associated with socialism and communism as well. As with any ideology, there are both good and bad parts of the idea, and like we discussed last week, a large part of that comes with how people interpret those different ideas and how much they actually stick to it. That's what we will be investigating this week.
BUT - here's some fun facts! Did you know that the game of Monopoly was actually created as a criticism of capitalism? Click on the little picture below if you're interested in learning a little more about the history of the game that one could actually consider to be a little socialist. 😱
Click to see the history behind the development of the board game monopoly
Discussion: Why were there so many inefficiencies?
Generalizations - what happens when capitalism is not so great? What happens when communism is not so great?
Wednesday:
Re-cap the case studies and finish going through the notes
Maybe another pop quiz??
How the theories of capitalism and communism/socialism were implemented in history
Stage 1: Fixing the problems of the Industrial Revolution
Classical Conservatism
Societal Changes - the government gets involved
Thursday:
Rant by Colby
Practice Writing
30-1 - Arguments and evidence paragraph of Assignment 2
30-2 - Defense of position paragraph of Assignment 3
Since this is the last formative you will be doing, in the next week or two you will be completing your first essays for marks
Friday:
We have looked at both the pros and cons of capitalism and communism. But, like I said in class, there is no country that has used either one of these ideologies exactly the way in which the theory said it should be used and the circumstances that it should be used in. Because of that, most economic systems and ideologies are actually a mixture (hence the term mixed economies) of aspects of capitalism and communism. A more right-wing economic system will have more aspects of capitalism - lower taxes, less government services, mostly if not all private property and a greater focus on self-reliance while following a free market. A more left-wing economic system will have more aspects that lead towards communism - higher taxes that are used to provide greater government services to give people a social safety net, public ownership of major industries and corporations, a focus on cooperation to ensure economic equality. As significant events happen in the economy affecting production of goods and service, as well as job security, governments make decisions on what is the course of action to take to solve the problem. Often, the decisions will be a departure from the current economic philosophy to something different only to find the shift back to the original view years later. The point is, as the economy changes, so do economic philosophies; this is why we call it the evolution of modern economic thought :)
One of the first steps in this evolution was the implementation of Welfare Capitalism and the Square Deal.This week, we will look at several other huge economic events and how they helped our economic theories evolve in North America.
Notes - Shift to Modern Liberalism - The Welfare State
This week, we are going to be starting our first full unit, which will be based on different economic systems and particularly what it means to have a "liberal" economy. There are a couple things to remember:
The term LIBERAL does not always mean "change." The term liberalism came about during the Enlightenment to support a change to the society at the time. Since we have adopted those liberal/changing values of the Enlightenment, we have become a society based on those principles - which is why we call current society a liberal society. You can "be a conservative" in a liberal society, you can "be a liberal" in a liberal society.
When we talk about liberal societies, we are referring to ones that support human rights, democracy and capitalism.
After Monday's class, this should be a little more clear as to what the ideology of liberalism actually means. This will lead us to specifically look at what it means to have economic liberalism - an economy that is based on predominantly around capitalism. This theory, which is the predominant economic theory around the world, is not the only economic theory and we will look at different systems to analyze the pros and cons of different systems. The goal will be to finish this unit before November Break.
This week will look like....
Monday:
Yes, I know I told you super fun activity today. But, at 9:00 pm on Sunday, I remembered that I did not go get the necessary supplies. THUS - super fun activity will only be half done today and the rest is delayed to TUESDAY. I promise. But the first half of it should take the majority of the class anyways.
Tuesday:
Liberalism
Finish Notes and watch the Videos about the three different revolutions
The important revolutions:
AMERICAN
FRENCH
INDUSTRIAL
Start notes on economic theory
Wednesday:
A look at the philosophy of Capitalism
Thursday:
Rants by Shataya
Next Writing Practice
30-1 - second part of Assignment 1 = Relationship between sources
30-2 - second part of Assignment 2 = answering the question the sources did
Friday:
The pros of Capitalism
The benefits of the Industrial Revolution
Case Studies
Pick 2 of the following case studies to look up and put on an economic spectrum
-making a pencil (Friedman video)
- cell phone technology/advancements in vehicles
- strength of US, Singapore economies
- Uber
-Privatizing water article, liquor stores, cell phones
- Lenin NEP (needed some competition, private ownership)
-Industrial Revolution
-fall of communism (Cuba liberalizing, improved relations with US)
This week, we will be looking at the last few general ideas and then starting on to economics. We don't have much to finish in regards to general information and we will not be having a test on this section - it will be worked into your other exams 💀. This week, we will be looking at how the values of individualism are seen in Classical Liberalism and how individualism and collectivism are seen in Modern Liberalism.
As we study our first unit in economics, we will see that the ideology that works with economic liberalism is CAPITALISM - remember Adam Smith from last week? Yeah, his ideas. He's pretty important to this section.
Social 30...that wonderful course that you have anticipating for for the last 12 years is finally here, AND it's first thing in the morning! In all actuality, I love Social 30 and it really does have a lot to do with what you will encounter for the rest of your life. It is a great course to get into, if you want to, and can really help you understand how our society functions and to question whether or not how we run things is the best way possible.
I will be doing a "Modified Flipped Classroom", where there will be opportunities for you to deepen your understanding of the course content. What that means is that each week, I will try to put a new blog posting up by Sunday night to outline what we will be doing in the coming week. I will put links to powerpoints, slides, videos, websites, updates into Google Classroom and so on that, over the course of the week, you can look at to enhance your learning of the content. Once my projector is up and running, it is up to you to print off your notes if you want paper copies or to download digital copies to follow on your device. Ideally, the large portion of the intricate content would be what you look up on your own. Now, I know that looking up history is not everybody's cup of tea. However, by doing the background knowledge at home, it allows us to use the time in class to work on your skills to understand the knowledge = you will practice skills that will help you to be successful on your diploma in class, rather than focusing on knowledge. This is not to say that there won't be specific knowledge presented in class; it simply means to gain a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of the course, I will provide you with information to help better prepare you.
Videos, such as the one below, are great background knowledge to what life was like before individualism came around that we are definitely not going to be able to cover in class. So, it is up to you whether or not you watch it. But I really think you should :)
This blog will also let you know what we will be doing for the week, so it will be an agenda for what we are to get through.
So what's in store for this week?
Tuesday
Re-cap notes for Characteristics of Ideologies
Essential component of your project due on September 22
Principles of Individualism and Collectivism
Wednesday
Philosophers of the Enlightenment - the European men who greatly influenced the development of Classical Liberalism
Adam Smith
John Locke
Jean Jacques Rousseau
John Stuart Mill
Thomas Hobbes
Voltaire
Monstesquieu
Karl Marx
Class notes on Philosophers
Thursday
Rant by Jace
Practice Writing Paragraph #1
30-1 will be practicing interpreting sources for Assignment I
30-2 will be practicing describing characteristics for Assignment I
you NEED your computers/iPads/something you can write on and access google drive from
Friday
Individualism vs. Collectivism
Real-Life Examples
Parts of each of them
How do they affect a political system/government structure
Last week, and through creating your projects, you have been looking at how dictatorships can be cruel and completely reject the values of liberalism. From their perspective, the leaders feel completely justified in doing so. However, from our liberal perspective, we have a hard time understanding how people can be so cruel and target specific groups and treat them unfairly or unjustly. This is why so many people supported Trump's bombing in Syria - from a Western perspective, attacking your own people with chemical weapons is totally and completely abhorrent. Many see Trump's actions as a way to stand up for the rights of the people in Syria. The attack on a dictatorial regime who does not support human rights, which are seen as essential in liberal nations, is justified as you are supporting the protection of rights for all people. This goes hand in hand with the justification for the imposition of liberal values on other countries - if we all have the same world view and accept and protect the same ideals, then the world would be a more peaceful and prosperous place. This is easier said than done.
What we will be looking at this week is the reasoning behind why liberal nations have tried to impose their ideals on other countries. From our perspective, it is the most fair and just system to use in your country. But isn't it a little ironic that an ideology that's based on choice and individual rights and freedoms is imposed on other nations??
One example of the imposition of liberalism: The War on Iraq in 2003. Click here for an essay describing the explicit and implicit reasons behind why the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 (Canada did not participate in this war, but we did increase our military presence in Afghanistan to compensate for some of the US military going into Iraq). Click here for a video to see the timeline of the War in Iraq. Essentially, the reason for the US occupation in Iraq was to help them build a functioning democracy - this would help them and prevent future disputes with other countries. Click here to see what life was like in Iraq 2 years after the US withdrew from the country.
There is much debate about the effectiveness of imposing liberalism on a country that is not prepared to embrace the ideology or doesn't want to embrace it. Look at Germany after WWI - forcing a democracy on a country ill-equipped to run a functioning and effective democracy at the time was one reason that allowed Hitler to eventually seize power. So what's the right answer?? That's what we will be talking about for the next 2 weeks.
Really great series on the War on Terror
What will we be doing this week?
Monday:
Notes - what's the rationale for imposing liberalism?
Focused debate
You will be given a perspective to argue from. You don't get a choice. Fun!
War on Terror - A recent imposition of liberalism??
Pick groups for a group presentation on the Cold War
Groups will be picked for you
You will be assessed on the quality of your group work (by your peers) and your presentation (by me)
Presentations will be NEXT TUESDAY in class
They will need to be emailed to me at the beginning of class AT THE LATEST
Tuesday:
Work on Cold War Presentations for the entire block
Wednesday:
Notes - Start of the Cold War
Continue working on presentations
Thursday:
Rants by Natasha, Soyoung and Kristen
Practice Writing Assignment:
30-1: Arguments/Evidence for Assignment 2
30-2: Arguments/Evidence OR Analysis of the issue for Assignment 3
