Pictured, L-R: GCFRW President Vicky Hawkins, Brennan Shock, and Candy Luhrsen. One of the National Federated Republican Women's public service programs is called Americanism. In connection with that, Grant County FRW hosted a countywide essay contest for students in grades 3-12. The essay topic was "Freedom or Free Stuff - what is the difference between Capitalism and Socialism". Certificates and $265 worth of cash awards were presented to students in Grant County. A total of 22 essays were received and judged, three of which were from public schools. Honorable mention certificates and cash awards were presented to Wyatt Donovan of LaPlata Middle School, Brennan Shock of Cliff Schools, and Aston Donovan of Silver City High School last month. Other awards were previously presented at Calvary Christian Academy.

Pictured L-R: GCFRW Americanism Co-Chair Cindy Cykala, Wyatt Donovan of LaPlata Middle School, and Candy Luhrsen.Socialism is a system of government plus a way of managing the economy, including owning businesses which produce essential products and services and controlling what and how much they produce. According to Meriam Webster's Dictionary, socialism advocates "collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods", also "a system of society or group living in which there is no private property" and "a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state." Webster also defines socialism as "a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done." In socialist countries, government limits the supplies of goods and services. You may see empty shelves at the grocery store; you may not be able to buy your favorite brand of an item; or you may not be able to get an appointment to see the doctor for months. Since socialist governments also control the media and influence public opinion, socialism removes the difficult task of independent thinking. Disagreement with government opinion is discouraged.  

Pictured L-R: GCFRW Americanism Co-Chair Cindy Cykala, Aston Donovan of Silver City High School, and Candy Luhrsen.Capitalism is not a system of government, but an economic system, which works well under our Representative Republic type of government. Merriam Webster Dictionary's definition of capitalism is "an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods [and property], by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market." So, decisions are made by individuals who adhere to the law of supply and demand when determining how much to produce, where to market the service or product, and how high to set prices for them. The risks and costs of private property ownership and investing in the means to produce a product or service are borne by individuals and companies. Their incentive to do this is personal or corporate profit. Society benefits from capitalism through collection of personal and business taxes and by the availability of products and services where they are needed at reasonable prices - whatever the market will bear. Freedom of thought and speech is encouraged. Also, there are no government-imposed limits on what people can become or achieve. Individuals are allowed to decide where they want to work and how far they want to go with their education, job or business based on their skills, knowledge, and hard work, and/or the amount of risk they want to take with their capital.