Economic Systems

I believe the most successful economic system is one that is the least regulated. With that being said, I don't believe a traditional economic system is very productive because it's main goal is meeting the "needs" of the society. In order to thrive and be successful, you have to give society the freedom to do what they want to do, and the system that I believe parallels this the best would be market economy.

A market economy has private ownership and is driven by supply and demand. Touching on the ladder detail, it makes perfect sense that if an item is scarce that is should cost more to obtain, vice versa, if there is a surplus of that item, it should cost less. In this economy, businesses have more freedom and it's a competition. There will always be winners and losers regardless of how you play the game, but having the opportunity thrive is what makes it so special. Of course, it's not a perfect system. There will be people who don't get fed because of a shortage or people that get paid less because even though they may work twice as much as someone who makes twice as much as they do. In a market economy you get rewarded for intelligence, skill, and creativity, unlike a socialist economy. A market economy is the best at meeting the needs and demands of a society and it does so in a way that produces a diversified economy that has the freedom to choose it's own path.

Opportunity Cost

A significant choice that I made more recently was when I decided to purchases logs for a firewood business. Granted, it wasn't that big of a risk since the wood only cost $750 split two ways, it was still a big purchase. Along with the job also came a huge time commitment, which is what I consider to be the biggest risk. I dedicated 250 hours of my time to that business, which could've been spent doing other things like a more stable job. I don't regret the experience and I am still in the business.

When I get older, there will be many decisions that I have to make that significantly impact my life. The first thing that comes to mind would be purchasing a home after college. With this I have two options, either get a nice home and have a big pile of debt to pay off, or I could get a cheap home, and still have money to spend on other things. Personally, I believe getting a cheap home would be the smartest thing to do because coming out of college I won't have a lot of money and I don't want to have a lot of debt. It would also allow me to buy a car, as well as other things like saving up for a nicer and more permanent home for when I have the income to support it. There are many different things to consider when making a purchase, like a home, and in my situation, buying a cheaper house initially is by far my best option.

Ideal Form of Government

I believe the ideal form of government is a democracy. I know it sounds cliché to say that the government in which I live in is the best form of government, but I believe it is with a few exceptions. Democracy is a form of government for the people in which they are treated equally. I know it's easy to dream big and not so easy to follow through, but I think democracy has proven to do quite well in comparison to other forms of government. Sure our country has had it's fair share of struggles, but we've come out of them a stronger nation. For instance, the great depression which was a very low point in our history. Now, some people may argue that we survived all because of the war, but without a strong government we wouldn't have been able to flourish from that situation as successfully as we did. Getting back on track, although democracy has great intentions, there are plenty of flaws. The one I'd like to focus on is the fact that we say it is a government for the people and yet much of society does not correlate. There are many instances where the people do not get a choice. For example, this very classroom where Mr. Thompson gets to choose the curriculum and gets to form his own teaching agendas. Where's our say in the matter? I'm not saying I don't agree with his teaching style I'm just saying it's a better reflection of a dictatorship. From this I would say that democracy needs to work on it's citizen representation within society. To make this government more ideal, I believe that in order to vote you must pass a test that proves you are up to date on the issues regarding the vote. This would result in actions taken that are supported by people who are educated on the matter. I like the idea of a president; however, I believe the set time for office is unnecessary. If he is a strong leader then we can keep him in office until we decide otherwise, and vice versa, if we decide right off the bat that we don't like the president then we can remove him with a majority vote from the population. The thing I appreciate most about democracy is our freedoms. We have the freedom to do and become whatever we desire, within the confines of the law. Most other government's don't allow this freedom and therefore they force a fate upon you. Having the ability to choose is one of the greatest freedoms. All of this combined is why I believe democracy, with a few minor changes, is the ideal form of government.