Why did capitalism win out over communism during the cold war?

Question

This is a complex question. Take it from any angle you want, political, social, economic.

Answer 1

More money... The US had more money than the USSR. Economically, the USSR couldn't keep up with the US in an arms race.

Currently, communist China is giving the US some competition in an economic sense, but US business still dominates the global market. As long as the people are "happy" then they don't rebel as much, to put it simply, so China may be around for a while longer.

Answer 2

There are a couple of points to add to Taylor and Donald. The Capitalism that Taylor talks about is British Capitalism. Read Adam Smith the Wealth of Nations Pub 1776. Malaya was the War Britain won against the communists, partly because unlike the Americans we let our Generals fight it on their terms. Plus we realised that long before the term Hearts and minds was coined. That the way to win against this type of insurgency was to have the people on your side. Medical help and Education were provided to villagers who helped the Brits, and denied to the communists and their supporters. The only real success that the Soviets had that I am aware of, was the start of the Space Race. Sputnik 1 and Yuri Gagarin. Even there in the end the Soviets lost as it was the Americans who got to the Moon. A lot of the cold war was played out by the Secret Services, spying and espionage, and only occasionally came into the public arena.

Answer 3

I think there are quite a few factors, but one that I feel was very important is that people have no incentive to work. If you get the same pay and benefits regardless of how hard you work, you have no reason to go the extra mile. If there is no room for advancement, no chance for promotion, no chance for a raise, why should you try? If the lazy guy sitting next to you reading the newspaper is getting the same pay, why should you even try? An economic system cannot survive if productivity is minimal and quality even worse.

A Capitalist system rewards hard work (well, it's supposed to). You naturally have an incentive to try harder. Not everyone does, but the spark is there for many. If you have an idea and you take the time to develop it and market it, you can be well rewarded. If you have an idea in a Communist system, what possible motive do you have to take the time to develop it?

If you'd like to see an example of why this is part of the failing of the Communist system, take a look at a union shop in the US. At any given union shop, you will have a number of different types of people. Some are hard working folks who would be equally hard working if they were not union. Others abuse the system, knowing that it is difficult for them to be fired, and do the minimum amount of work necessary. These are the types of folks that, without the union to protect them, would be out of a job or working harder to keep one. Rather than people being inspired by the hardworking guy, they tend to instead lower themselves to the level of the lazy guy. "Why should I bust my butt if he is getting the same pay and doing nothing?" mentality.

Answer 4

Well this war was fought without battles. What happened is if they made a tank we made an A-10. If they made a nuke we made two. And the War was just each country building up arms so that they would win in the event actually battles took place. But while our spending increased they began to run out of money. That is because communism by design is more expensive then capitalism. By percentage America has a very small government. But the fly that broke the camels back was America's stealth technology. This was because stealth planes were created by one country and one only and that is this one. Now to defeat stealth it would take at least as much money as the amount spend to produce it.And the only one that could afford to create stealth or anti stealth technology is America. So that is why America won because we had more money and more recourses.

Answer 5

Yes, communism is basically dead. It only really exists now in Cuba - China has a much more capitalist economy than a communist one. hugo Chavez is trying to bring back socailism in Venezuela. His brand of it is closer tocommunism.

socialism is still alive and wel lthough in many parts of the world.

During the cold War specifically - I think Capitalism won - The USSR is gone and the old Warsaw pact quickly turned their economies to capitalism and are now trying to gain entry (or have already gained entry) into the European Union, which is dominated by capitalist thought.

Answer 6

Basically communism was run as a supply based economy in which the state decided what should be manufactured and supplied to the people and for how much.
Capitalism was run as a demand based economy in which the people theorectically decided what they wanted to be supplied to them and because there was competition between different manufacturers they had some choice over how much to pay

Answer 7

Answer is simple : Jealousy. Communist is the person who is jealous of other and classify work and population. If you schedule what human must do and then you dont get the full work power since there is no self -esteem. Poor people jealousy= Communism. Salute from Turkey to USA (my second country).

Answer 8

Capitalism won because it worked. Capitalism works because it rewards people's self-interest. Communism requires that people work for the interest of society and not their own self interest.

Because Capitalism worked, it enabled us to create enough wealth to spend on defense AND increase the living standards of the people. Communism failed because it couldn't generate much wealth.

Answer 9

Communism still exists in VIETNAM, North Korea, China, Laos, and Cuba.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0933874.html

Answer 10

Communism is still alive in China, Cuba and several other countries. So I would have to say the race is still being run.