What's wrong with the Left?

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. We will finish up with our discussion of the pros of communism but also look to criticize the idea 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.

So what will we cover this week?

Monday: 

• Finish the notes on the pros of communism

Click to see the history behind the development of the board game monopoly

• Practice interpreting sources

Tuesday: 

• Start with the cons of communism
• Case Study: the first communist nation - the USSR
• To go through the cons, we will be doing a quick history of how and why communism was implemented in Russia (which then became the USSR) and how the system actually was run
• History of Communism - Link to history of how communism developed

Wednesday:

• The Cons of Communism - Life in the USSR
• Jigsaw with the case studies
• Discussion: Why were there so many inefficiencies?
• Generalizations - what happens when capitalism is not so great? What happens when communism is not so great?

Thursday: 

• Rants by Tiffany and Danny
• Practice Writing Paragraphs
• 30-1 - adding evidence to last week's paragraphs
• 30-2 - writing your opinion in Assignment 3

Friday: 

• 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

Capitalism vs Communism - The Age Old Debate for What's Better

Last week, we started analyzing capitalism and were looking at the benefits of it, mostly through looking at the positive outcomes of the Industrial Revolution. Click on the factory to see a generalized description of the Industrial Revolution and its positive and negative impacts.







Here is a quick re-cap of those positives:

This week, we will be analyzing the negatives of capitalism. There is no way that any idea will not have the good and bad parts to it. Remember, ideologies are the ideal society and it is humans that interpret how to use these ideologies. It is through this interpretation and implementation by individuals that you see the good and bad of an ideology emerge. So, while the Industrial Revolution had some really good things come about because of it, there were also some major downfalls as well.

Here is what our week will look like - the first FULL week of the semester 

Monday

• Finish the notes from last week about the downfalls of capitalism

• Pick case studies for research: Capitalists - Good or Bad??
• You will need to have a device, tablet or laptop today AND tomorrow

Tuesday

• Finish case studies and post them - Half the class
• Start on the positives of Communism - yes, there are positives to the IDEA of communism

The Positives of Communism

• Notes and case studies

Wednesday

• Assignment for first half the class: Case Studies of Capitalism worksheet. Due on FRIDAY
• Finish with the positives of communism notes and case studies

Thursday

• Rants by Ryan Shapka and Tiffany
• Practice Writing Paragraphs due on Saturday:
• Social 30-1: The Arguments for Assignment 2
• Social 30-2: Assignment 3 - analyzing the issue and the individuals

Friday

• The drawbacks of communism - Notes and examples
• Case Study: inefficiencies of the Soviet Union

Capitalism - The Good and the Ugly

This week, we will start looking at the pros and cons of capitalism. To start with, we will look at the ideology and what it means. Key things to think of when you hear capitalism:

• Adam Smith
• Free market
• Invisible Hand
• Laissez-Faire
• Profit Motive

To begin with, we will look at how capitalism was first implemented in the Industrial Revolution and then the good and bad effects of it. Then, we will look at the opposite of capitalism, which is communism. 

DON'T FORGET YOUR PROJECT IS DUE THIS THURSDAY!!!! If you are gone to Texas, I need it BEFORE you leave!

What will the week look like?

Monday: 

• Ideology of capitalism

• Implementation of Capitalism: Industrial Revolution (click on the link to get more info on the Industrial Revolution cause and effects)
• Notes and Discussion

Tuesday: 

• Cons of Capitalism - what are the downfalls?

• Notes and Discussion
• Individual Case Studies
• Every person in class will be assigned two capitalists to research and post a short biography online about them
• If you have a laptop/iPad bring it as it is easier to post from that than from your phones

Wednesday: 

• Finish up with case studies
• Assignment
• Categorize 3 of the case studies from the class postings into one of three cases
• This assignment will be due on MONDAY

Thursday: 

• Rant by Brody 
• Watch videos from Projects
• Practice Writing Number 4
• 30-1  - Writing Assignment #2 Analysis of the Source
• 30-2 - Writing Assignment #2 - Defense of Position

The Beginning of Economics - How Should We Make and Spend our Money??

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/41/politics/political-cartoon-thread-521036/index6.html

 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:

1. 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. 
2. When we talk about liberal societies, we are referring to ones that support human rights, democracy and capitalism. 

After Tuesday'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 Spring Break. 

This week will look like....

Tuesday: 

• What is Liberalism? Notes and Videos
• Notes will be in Google Classroom on Tuesday morning

• The important revolutions:

AMERICAN

FRENCH

INDUSTRIAL

• Self-Assessment and Exemplars from last week's writing

Wednesday: 

• Activity - only need your pencil cases :)

Thursday:

• Rants by Destiny and Brody 
• Next Writing Practice
• 30-1 - second part of Assignment 1 = Relationship between sources
• 30-2 - first part of Assignment 2 = interpreting sources for a specific question

Friday: 

• Basics of the Economic Systems

• Notes 
• Capitalism
• Industrial Revolution
• Outcomes of it

Last little bit of General Stuff and then ECONOMICS!!

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.

www.mrconservative.com/2012/02/2275-anti-liberal-monopoly-cartoon/

https://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoonview.asp?catref=dcrn429

So what will our week look like?

Monday 

• Finish philosopher matching - 30 minutes to complete
• Generalized Spectrum - Notes

• Spectrums

• Quiz 

Tuesday

• What is liberalism? 
• Classic vs modern
• Key events that changed things
• Review of Individualism and Collectivism
• Start on Economics

Wednesday

• We are playing a game. The ONLY thing needed is your pencil case. If you want. You don't even need a pen.

Thursday

• Rants by Hannah and Destiny
• Interpretation Paragraph #2 - if we don't have time in class, it will be in Google Classroom and will be due on Saturday at midnight (or paper copy at the end of the day Thursday since there is no school on Friday)

The Start of Social 30 - Some of the most useful things you will learn!!

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?

Monday

• Re-cap notes for Characteristics of Ideologies
• Essential component of your project due on March 4

• 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

Tuesday

• Principles of Individualism and Collectivism

• Kahoot on Philosophers
• Philosopher Matching

Friday

• Individualism vs. Collectivism
• Real-Life Examples
• Parts of each of them
• How do they affect a political system/government structure

• Second Half of Class - Second Writing paragraph so you NEED your computers/iPads/something you can write on and access google drive from

Starting the Cold War Just as it Gets Cold - Couldn't Get Better Timing!!

This week is our week that is dedicated to the Cold War and we will probably finish this by next Tuesday at the latest.  Which will leave us approximately 3 weeks to cover our economics unit.  Since we are finishing up our unit on Dictatorships and the Cold War, next week you will have your test on this unit. This will include all aspects of dictatorships and parts of the Cold War.  No clue how many questions it will be, but at least 20.

On another note, if you are really interested in the Cold War, here is a great documentary series that was on CBC.

For the most part of this week, you will be working on a short presentation for your part of the Cold War. That means you should probably be bringing your laptop or tablet every day so you can look up different videos/websites to get extra info on top of what's in your textbook. The article that I handed out to you on Friday and that we read about the start of the Cold War is just extra background knowledge for the Cold War and its origins.

Monday 

• Go through Potsdam Conference and the beginning of the Cold War
• Extra Videos

• Work on presentations - There were several different "parts" of the Cold War period. The class will be split into groups of 2-3 people and it is your responsibility to make some sort of presentation (nothing like a video unless you really really want to) to explain your groups part. This can be in the form of a visual presentation, a game, a live-action skit, anything that you think will help everybody remember your topic. These will be presented on THURSDAY. You will have half of Monday's class to work on it, Tuesday all class and be ready for Thursday to present. 

Tuesday

• Work on presentations - all handouts, questions and anything else needs to be turned into me by WEDNESDAY night so that on Thursday morning before class, I have the opportunity to photocopy anything that needs to be copied for your presentations.

Wednesday

• Part  1 of your writing assignment. You can go to the computer lab at 8:00

Thursday

• Rants by Taylor and Isaiah
• Presentations!!!!
• The New Cold War - is it a thing?

Friday

• Part 2 of your writing assignments (or parts 2 and 3)