Communism And Capitalism In Ongka

Great Essays
In America, it is understood that one exchanges their time and labor for money, and the amount of money they receive it for determines their status in society. Many people believe that all other economies are moving toward this capitalist economy because they are under the impression that such an economy is the most advanced a nation could possibly become. A popular type of economy that currently coexists with capitalism is a gift-giving economy. Though now they exist in a kind of symbiotic relationship, someday, capitalism or some other similar type of market economy will eventually take over, simply so that the people and their economy can better interact with the rest of the world on a global level.
In Western culture, it is usually believed
…show more content…
The other Big Man, the one Ongka is giving the moka to, may be for going completely capitalist, but it seems that the economies complement each other. The people of Ongka’s tribe grow coffee and sell it to local factories for money; money allows them to give even bigger gifts than they could have before. Instead of just pigs and cassowaries, consumer goods like trucks can now also be given. This gives them the ability to gain even more influence as they give even more prestigious gifts. As mentioned before, the receiver of Ongka’s gift believes they should give up the practice, but Ongka states that if the moka is not returned, he will slit the other Big Man’s throat. This reveals that gift giving has been a huge part of the society for a long time and they will not easily give it up. Without a return of the moka, Ongka himself will have no reason to give a gift and will therefore lose a way to build his own status. Without the giving of gifts, the people of Papua New Guinea will have to create new ways gain influence among the people. For right now, it seems the people have found a way that allows the two different economies to coexist but this might not be the case for much …show more content…
These gift economies will eventually have to become some type of market economy to be able to participate in this globalization. If they do not, the larger capitalist economies can exploit them as cheap labor as they compete with other capitalist economies. Without becoming some sort of market economy, nations will be unable to enter this competition. They participate on a smaller scale, such as growing and selling coffee, but to grow into a world player, an adjustment must be made to their economy. This is not just so they can actually interact with other world powers, as they have already successfully incorporated that into their current economy. Rather it is a matter of social expectations, meaning that businessmen and political leaders from “first-world” countries will not take them seriously. In the culture of the powerful countries, people give gifts and do not expect anything in return. To rely on the delivery of a gift as well as a return gift of equal or better value to increase one’s social standing could be considered an undependable system. Businessmen and political leaders from other countries may see this policy as naiveté and not want to trust political leaders from gift economies with large amounts of money. This would be detrimental to a society with a gift economy attempting to become influential on a

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Things Fall Apart

    • 1419 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In the novel Things Fall Apart we’re presented with the character of Unoka, who lived in a lower Nigerian tribe that is part of a nine-section connected village, Iguedo. Unoka can be described as a free spirit someone who lived their life listening to the wind and being one with nature a trait that to many seemed weak. Unoka was a man who could not stand the sight of blood making him an awful warrior, a very much respected role in his community. He was inconsistent borrowing and losing money, which lead to his wife and children often going hungry “In his day he was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow. If any money came his way, and it was seldom did, he immediately brought gourds of palm-wine…”…

    • 1419 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To begin with, capitalism is collectively owned property, labor as an advantage for the community and consumption goes along with need. The United States roll in capitalism offers opportunity rather than fairness. (The Economist 2015) In…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My revision is to elaborate on the economic system portion of my review and to add additional information. In this week's assignment, I selected to address the Ledbetter vs. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company case, where Lilly Ledbetter filed discrimination for gender pay. Capitalism and socialism both serve as a crucial part of the economic system for this setting. Some of the characteristics of capitalism are better working conditions, better wages, the profit motive, competition, and greed. In reference to the socialist theory which is practically the opposite and is not motivated by personal self-interest.…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There is no private ownership… Everything belongs to the Angkar.” The author her childhood in war has affected her because she was ruled by a dictator and was forced to share everything. They were to believe that everything belongs to the Angkar. The author describes her account of the experience during the year of Khmer…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As a student in America we all know the struggle of affording college. With the prices of tuition going higher each year it is becoming a journey to even attend college, let alone graduate with a degree. In America’s capitalist society college is becoming more and more of a business and less of a institution that is truly dedicated to bettering the student. With capitalism we have the ability to raise and lower costs of things based on how much we have and how successful the business is. These prices are not controlled by the government entirely, but instead by us.…

    • 1539 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    We live in a capitalist economy, where money and profit seem to be the major focus. As a result of capitalism in America, an individual has the right to own property, own a business, and/or own other forms of wealth. As citizens of America, we have the opportunity to succeed. But, how does an individual succeed in America? Well, there are a number of ways to secure prosperity.…

    • 172 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Film Review: The Global Assembly Line The World economy has experienced distinct phases over time, yet one of the most important and revolutionary systems has been capitalism. Capitalism can be defined as a socio-economic system motivated by profit and labor power, focused on the exploitation of the labor force. Beginning in the 19th century, competitive capitalism introduced the idea of reducing wage rates and different forms of production. Then came the era of organized capitalism, also known as Fordism, the era of mass production and introduction of assembly lines.…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The dictionary of economics (Black, 2012) defines capitalism as “the economic system based on private ownership of property and private enterprise. Under this system all, or a major proportion, of economic activity is undertaken by private profit-seeking individuals or organizations, and land and other material means of production are largely privately owned”, to expand of the definition, capitalism is the lines with the laissez-faire economic view which argued that the government shouldn’t intervene in business practices except to protect private property. The timeline for modern capitalism starts with merchant capitalism from the 16th century with naval trade mainly from Great Britain and the Netherlands. Later on during the Industrial Revolution, political philosophers inspired by the analysis develop innovative ideas about how the power that resulted from wealth created by industrialization and commerce and their socio-economic impact.…

    • 1058 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Relentless Revolution

    • 1595 Words
    • 7 Pages

    There are many aspects of American government that have shaped it into what it is today, a few of those being culture, politics, and economics. There are three main economic systems: socialism, communism, and the most popular in the western world, capitalism. Born in 17th century Europe, capitalism can be defined as the investment of money with the intention of profiting. After spreading across Europe, colonization forced capitalism upon other countries. Capitalism was once a fundamental component to progress and aided in economic growth, which led to the industrial revolution, improved standards of living, and increased gross domestic product.…

    • 1595 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Capitalism: The Quest for Cost Reduction and a Fair Price Capitalism is the idea that wealth can be grown. Under a capitalistic society, wealth is grown from the private sector where land is privately owned. Production in a capitalistic society is efficient due to the rewards of being efficient. If a producer can make more goods for cheaper than he currently is then the producer can make more money. Capitalism arose out of specific conditions during the feudal era in England and was widely put to use in various countries during the Industrial Revolution.…

    • 1653 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Today, many will agree that the world revolves around commerce, as the economy has been the main focal point of many thriving nations. Globally, the most common economic system is a mixed economy, which is a combination of a command and market economy. A command economy is focused on the central government. In a command economy, the government has control over the marketplace, and decides what is produced and sold. A market economy focuses on private business, and it allows for free trade and competition.…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    After reading about communism, one can truly grasp the differences between a capitalist society, like our own and a Communist one. Communism is defined as "a classless society in which all wealth and property would be owned by the community as a whole" (Ellis 210). Researching the founders, history and main characteristics of communism could certainly open the eyes of a close-minded believer of capitalism. Communism was founded by Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels during the second half of the 19th century.…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The market systems of present day are, for the most part, based upon some degree of capitalism. However, this was not always so. In previous societies, markets were heavily based upon societal factors; in fact, economies were an addition to the society, not a focus of society itself. This is where embedded and disembedded economies come into play. Disembedded economies, or capitalistic economies, are relatively new.…

    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The conflict between capitalism and communism caused one of the biggest conflicts of the twentieth century. The United States feared the Soviet Union would infiltrate their country, this caused lots of political anxiety. This fear was caused by the news media and politicians who characterized the Soviet Union as being bent on world domination. The United States was traumatized by the events before the Cold War so they didn’t want to take any chances. During the 1930s the U.S went through the Great Depression.…

    • 815 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Introduction The five Oscar nominated movie , "The Wolf of Wall Street," gives another Hollywood story of drug addict, sex-crazed noblemen on Wall Street. When the film the wolf of Wall Street hit cinemas recently, it was a box office heat. The Hollywood juggernaut was based on the real life story of Jordan Belford who spent twenty two months in prison for money laundering and fraud after ripping off investors to almost one hundred million dollars. In the film "The wolf of Wall Street”, we can see the late capitalism in his glory.…

    • 1653 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays