I had to deal with a really poor education during my school years, so, for that matter, I have for a long time been (re)teaching myself some of the subjects I (didn’t) learn at school. One of those involves economic ideologies/systems like communism or capitalism.

I have a vague idea of what each one is about thanks to common sense, but it is kind of a shame being an adult and not knowing much about them.

So… where do I start from?

  • TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    11·
    5 months ago

    How thorough of an understanding do you want?

    One could read Wikipedia pages on the broad strokes of these topics and have a fairly functional definition of both to get on with their daily lives. Or one could take a more academic approach and read Marx and Smith along with other philosophers and economists.

    Part of the issue with both methods is that the meaning of Communism and Capitalism seem to change depending who you’re talking to and in what context. They are both such contentious topics that there’s a great deal of propaganda, misinformation, common misunderstanding and willful ignorance around them.

    So, are you hoping to engage in debate (or moreoften argument) about the merits of one or another? Or just hoping to gain enough understanding that you aren’t confused when the topics come up in casual conversation? I’d advise against the former. It’s exhausting and seems unproductive. At least online. In person, it makes more sense, but you’ll have a hard time finding people who are opening to considering changing their opinion on either system. If it’s the latter, you can really just make stuff up, it seems like most others do anyway.