Onto the next Unit - Political Systems!!!

So, we have officially wrapped up our talks about the economy and are now going to be looking at political systems.  Just as a refresher - when we are looking at political systems, typically we look at how much freedom is given to individual citizens and how much control is given to the government.  Your political system dictates how your country is run.  For this, we will be looking at several different types of democracies, as well as the opposite to democracy - dictatorships (which is NOT communism!!!).

This first week will be a nice and easy (not the hair dye) introduction into the very basics of democracy.  Review what we went through in our first unit - philosophers such as Locke, Hobbes, Montesquieu,Rousseau and Mill to refresh what they said about political systems and to review the basics of democracies and dictatorships and your spectrums.

So what will this week look like?

Tuesday:

• Geomeer Presentation in the the theatre at 9 am.  I'm not sure how long this will take us
• Why Democracy Matters

Wednesday:

• Anticipation Guide - How did democracy develop? - You will need your textbooks
• Introduction Notes
• Categorizing the characteristics - You will need scissors and glue

Thursday:

• Rants by Gage and Sarah T.
• Finish categorizing (if needed)
• Vocab: Presidential, Parliamentary and Direct democracies
• Notes on types of democracies
• Comparing Canada and the US democracies - You will need a phone or iPod with a QR scanner and headphones

Friday:

• Writing Assignment in the lab - You won't get this one ahead but can use your notes, and it will be a rough draft.  You can get feedback if you are going to change your work.
• Due at the end of class

Almost done with Economics!

This is our last week to be looking at economics, which means that you will be having your test on FRIDAY!!!! It will be covering everything we have learned about economics - capitalism pros and cons, communism pros and cons, shift to modern liberalism, Canada and Sweden's mixed economies and neo-conservative reaction - and is strictly a multiple choice test.  Somewhere between 35-45 questions I believe.  We will be reviewing in class this week, but it would be best if you started to review now rather than later.

There is very little new content that we will be covering this week, so we will have the opportunity to review material and go through interpreting sources and how to best use those techniques on your exam.  Be prepared to be finished writing when the bell rings - no extension into the next class, you will have until the end of break.

As well, all assignments/essays have been marked and updated, so you can check out your current marks on PowerSchool, it is all there.

So what's up with this week?

Monday:

• Vocabulary: Neoconservatism, Reagonomics, Monetarism
• Make sure you get the flow chart answers so you can finish that
• Video: Arguments against the Welfare State
• Notes - Supply Side Economics
• Interpreting Sources

Tuesday:

• Trickle Down Economics - Good or Bad?
• Finish Notes
• Comparing Keynesian Economics to Monetarism

• Interpreting Sources

Wednesday: 

• Comparing Government Actions
• New Deal vs. Obamanomics 2008
• Canada's new tax breaks - good or bad?
• Video review questions

Thursday:

• Rants by Kelsi-Leigh and Mikayla
• Review - please let me know how you guys would like to review.  Having only half the class play a game is not that fun or helpful to those who don't participate...

Friday:

• Test day!!!!

Almost Done with Economics

Last week, we were covering the shift to modern liberalism and why it was seen as necessary following the 1929 Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression.  Not only did the economic atmosphere change following these two catastrophic events, but the social attitudes in the United States and Canada changed.  There was more of an emphasis on the need for greater government involvement in hopes of protecting citizens from anything like that happening again.

This week, we will be looking at Canada's version of the Welfare State, along with how it is used in Europe.

Monday: 

• Vocabulary: Monetary and Fiscal Policies
• Article on the Great Depression
• Vocabulary: Keynesian Economics, New Deal and Welfare State 
• Review Questions and Video

Tuesday: 

• Vocabulary: Progressive Taxation, Flat Tax and Mixed Economy
• Canada's Mixed Economy
• How Our Tax System Works
• Bring a calculator to class

Wednesday:

• Flat Tax - Good or Bad? Debate
• Sweden's Welfare State - Democratic Socialism

Thursday:

• Rants by  Shalan and Dylan
• Finish Sweden's Welfare State
• Interpreting Sources
• Is Paying Taxes so Bad?
• Review Questions and Video

Friday: 

• Swinging back to traditional capitalism
• Flow Chart Activity - you need your textbook, glue and scissors

Shifting to Modern Liberalism

For the last two weeks, we have been looking at Capitalism and Communism and what the pros and cons of both systems are.  Now, like we have discussed many times over in class, implementing a philosophy EXACTLY the way it is written out on paper does not always achieve the desired results.  As such, most nations will adopt ideologies to some extent and use a combination of one or two ideologies to achieve the best possible situation for the majority of their citizens.

So what's going on this week?

Monday:

• Augustana Presentation - not sure how long this will be or if it is in my classroom.  So yeah.  Free stuff potentially :)
• Revisit Communism Cons - go back over Lenin, Stalin and Gorbachev
• Downfall of Communism questions

Tuesday:

• Vocabulary: Progressivism, Welfare Capitalism and The Square Deal
• Notes - Shift to Modern Liberalism - The Welfare State

• Interpreting Quotes

Wednesday:

• Vocabulary: Welfare State, the New Deal and Keynesian Economics
• Life in the United States Before the Great Depression

• The Great Depression - A consequence of capitalism
• Worksheet - Cause-Event-Effect Chart on the Great Depression

Thursday:

• Rants by Jonalyne and Katrina
• Keynesian Economics

• Notes on how it works
• Finish Cause Event Effect Chart

Friday:

• How Keynesian Economics works - In your own words
• FDR's New Deal

The Alternative to Capitalism - Communism

Last week, we were looking at the pros and cons of capitalism and how focusing completely on the individual does have benefits, but can also cause great harm to others in society.  I am not in class on Monday, so you will be working off the blog to watch videos and fill in notes to complete what we would have otherwise would have covered in class.  Because you will be watching these videos on at your own pace in the computer lab, YOU WILL NEED YOUR HEADPHONES.  Please don't forget them.  You will sit and twiddle your thumbs for 80 minutes otherwise.

Monday :

• Please bring your ear buds.  After prayer and announcements, Mrs. Krill will take you down to the computer lab.
• You will need your notes from Friday.  If you were absent Friday, Mrs. Krill has a couple extra sets of notes.
• Finish watching the video on Triangle Waist Company Fire.  In your notes, write all the negatives the event shows about capitalism.

• Take notes on what happened in the Bangladesh fire.  Note the similarities between the two fires that happened almost a century apart.  Answer the two questions in your notes.

• Watch the following video on Lexotica eye glass company and answer the three questions in your notes.

Why Glasses are so Expensive

• Get the questions on the downside to capitalism from Mrs. Krill.  Answer the questions then watch the video below to fill in what you couldn't find out.

Downside to Capitalism

• If you are finished before the end of class, you can start looking at what we will be start covering tomorrow - communism

Tuesday:

• Derek's super stellar rant!
• Vocabulary: Communism and Socialism
• What is communism? Notes
• Explanation video

Wednesday:

• Review questions: Pros of communism
• Implementation: The Russian Revolution

• Lenin and Leninism
• Warm Communism and the New Economic Policy

Thursday

• Rants: Taylor and Marcos
• Stalinism and Chinese communism under Mao Zedong
• Source Analysis
• Downfall of Communism Review
• Chinese Market Kerfuffle Video

Friday: 

• Vocabulary activity - Reverse Taboo cards
• Vocabulary: Progressivism, Square Deal and Welfare Capitalism
• Modern Liberal Practices - Theodore Roosevelt and the Square Deal

Classical Capitalism Is Not All It's Cracked Up To Be...

Just like with any ideology, Classical Capitalism, does have it's faults.  Last week, we looked at some of the pros of capitalism:

• Incentive
• To produce what people want
• To acquire skills so that you can work
• Use resources efficiently so they are not used up
• Productivity produces more profits for the individual
• You can become extremely wealthy
• Goods and Services
• A wide variety is available to consumers
• Competition allows for better quality goods and lower prices
• SELF-RELIANCE (think Invisible Hand)

As with all ideologies, however, it is not without it's risks.  This week, we will be looking at some key faults to Capitalism and how those key faults directly led to the development of "new and better" economic systems.

This week in class...

Tuesday: 

• Notes on the cons of capitalism
• Group Presentation - Grass roots movements to combat the development of capitalism in Industrial Great Britain

Wednesday: 

• Present the presentations you so lovingly created yesterday in class
• Writing Assignment II for both classes- How the heck do I write that? These two documents have some good guidelines to follow
• Writing Assignments For 30-1
• Writing Assignments for 30-2

Thursday: 

• Writing rough drafts in the comput-ay-tor lab.  I will have it open by 8 if you don't think you can finish it by 10 in regular class time.
• Rants will be tomorrow so that you can write your assignments

Friday:

• Rants: Derek and Shalan 
• Living conditions of citizens under Capitalism
• Discussion on Monopolies - Should monopolies be illegal in a market economy or is it just following your self-interest?

• How does a monopoly form
• Modern day monopolies - do they exist?

Classical Capitalism and It's Consequences

This week, we are continuing to look at the aspects of classical capitalism - that is we are looking at the very foundations of what capitalism was when it started.  Important things to remember - Adam Smith is generally seen as the "father of capitalism" because it was his ideas that laid the foundation for the free market to develop.  Once we have looked at the implementation of classical capitalism, ie: The Industrial Revolution, we will look at two case studies of capitalists - Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller.  These two chaps were entrepreneurs who had different interpretations of what it meant to be a capitalist and how they interpreted and used capitalist theory. After that, we will look at some of the consequences of the Industrial Revolution on the people of the world and, more specifically, government and citizen responses to it.

So for roughly the next two and a half weeks, we will be analyzing what a free market economy is and the good and bad parts of it.  

This Week In Social Class...

Monday

• How the Industrial Revolution started and consequences
• Capitalism questions
• Capitalism vs. Socialism

Tuesday

• Vocabulary: Vertical Integration, Horizontal Integration and Monopoly 
• Case Study: Henry Ford
• Case Study: John D. Rockefeller
• Discussion: who was the better capitalist and why?

Wednesday

• Citizen and government responses to industrialization
• Responses in the Industrial Revolution
• Roosevelt's Progressivism
• Debate: Is it the government's responsibility to check industrial growth and protect workers in a capitalist economy?

Thursday

• Thanksgiving celebration and Homeroom Challenge
• Rants: April and Courtney
• Finish up with responses to capitalism