Gair,+Jacob

Jacob Gair

** Link ** : N/A

** Topic ** : Ideological Differences

** Source ** : Communist Manifesto

** Quality of Source ** : The Communist Manifesto is a quality source because it is a 1st hand source and is the original text that outlines Communism. It is also easy to trace the Manifestos Authors.

** Most Important Informational Aspects of this Source ** : The Communist Manifesto explains in detail the Communist system and Ideology including the economic and social systems; however it also gives a description of Capitalism and displays the struggle between the bourgeoisie and proletariat.

**Why I chose this Source**: I chose this source because it is an accurate and compelling source that gives a very dedicated description of what exactly Communism represents and a Communist views on Capitalism. A secondary reason for my choosing of this source was that I much prefer to utilize books in my research than the internet as I find it easier to track those that wrote the source and that I find discovering information in a book to be much more satisfying.

Jacob Gair

1. Life in a Communist State/Society vs. Life in a Democratic Country/Society This topic entails the rights, consumer goods available, jobs, entertainment and general day to day life of citizens within these two polar opposite states.

2. I selected this topic because my own political ideology is very different to the society that I have lived in all my life. I hope to determine during this project whether or not the living standards of the people within a communist country are acceptable to me. I also engage in debates with numerous people on the topic of communism vs. democracy/capitalism and this project may provide me with substantial evidence for my position.

3. My topic relates to social studies/history.

4. The primary focuses of my project are political and cultural as my project focuses on the day to day lives of people within these states which includes political rights and government involvement in the societies as well as cultural ideals.

5. -Communist states largely stand for social programs and often include large social safety nets, they support pensions and free medical care and sometimes free housing and land reform. -Democratic states vary widely on the topic of social programs with some providing substantial social programs while other do not. -Democratic nations also vary on their economic freedoms with some being semi socialist and other being completely lassie faire. -I will also draw information from my own experiences within Democratic Canada and Communist Cuba. || -I need to research the day to day lives of communist citizens and the cultures of many communist nations, and to enlarge my knowledge of the laws and workings of democratic states. || - I have learned that despite the economy of the Soviet Union being Centralized and Government controlled 60% of its economic output came from the service industry and small business. ||
 * What I know about the topic || What I want to know about the topic || What I have learned about the topic ||
 * -Communist states are semi dictatorships with a strong ideological center and a centralized or nationalized economy in which the government has a large say.

6. The 3 important themes of this topic are the living conditions of the populations within democratic and communist states, the political and cultural freedoms of the people within the respective states and the differences between the population’s attitudes towards their respective regimes.

7. 1) Are the living conditions within communist states overall better than those of a comparatively similar democratic nation ( you cannot compare the living conditions of people within Communist Vietnam to those in the United state but you could compare them to those of Mexico )? 2) Is Communism dead and finished and if so was Communism a failure?

8. [] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_Soviet_Union Communist Manifesto

Jacob Gair __ Topic  __ Life in a Communist State/Society vs. Life in a Democratic Country/Society __ Overview of Topic  __ This topic entails the rights, consumer goods available, jobs, entertainment and general day to day life of citizens within these two polar opposite states. __ Controversial Questions  __ Factual: How exactly was Soviet Government run, how exactly did it work? Factual: Which Countries have been Communist, which countries are still Communist? Clarification: What is Communism? What does it stand for? Clarification: What is Democracy? What does it stand for? Interpretive: Were people within Communist Countries overall better off? Interpretive: Were people within Democratic Countries overall better off? Inquiry: How do Communist Governments react to internal dissent compared to democratic ones? Inquiry: How did the average life span of a Soviet Citizen compare to an American Citizen. __ Hypothesis   __ The average living conditions of the populations of Democratic Capitalist nations are higher than those of Authoritarian Communist/Socialist states.