Money and Freedom Aug 2

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Money is necessary for people to live a healthy life. Most of the countries in the world use capitalism to manage their economy. Capitalism is an ideology where production means are controlled by private businesses. This means that individual citizens run the economy without the government interfering in production or pricing. Instead, pricing is set by the free market. This means that value is based on supply and demand and the relationship between producers and consumers. Today we are going to talk about finances and the economy.

Money or currency, can be defined as anything that people use to buy goods and services. Money is what many people receive for selling their time, things or services to others. There are lots of different kinds of money in the world. Most countries have their own kinds of money, such as the United States dollar or the British pound. Money is also called many other names, like currency or cash. Most countries that have adopted capitalism say that it’s the best way to run the economy and it helps maintain democracy, while others say that socialism is better.

Capitalism’s ideology is very different from socialism and communism, because in socialist and communist regimes, the government takes control of the economy. Recently, the Cuban government has been criticized for repressing and punishing dissidents that publicly criticize it. Tactics against communist government critics include beatings, public shaming, travel restrictions, short-term detention, fines, online harassment, surveillance, and termination of employment.

The U.S. is a mixed economy, exhibiting characteristics of both capitalism and socialism. Such a mixed economy embraces economic freedom when it comes to capital use, but it also allows for government intervention for the public good.

Tax is money that people have to pay to the government. The government uses the money it gets from taxes to pay for public services and infrastructure. For example, taxes are used to pay for people who work for the government, such as the military and police, to provide services such as education and health care, and to maintain or build things like roads, bridges and sewers.

A democracy means rule by the people. The name is used for different forms of government, where the people can take part in the decisions that affect the way their community is run. A democracy is the opposite of a dictatorship, a type of government in which the power is centralized in the hands of a single person who rules the nation, lacks political pluralism, the people have no participation in the local politics and little to no freedom of expression. Venezuela is an example of a dictatorship.

Freedom House publishes its flagship annual report, called Freedom in the World. This report helps in assessing the condition of political rights and civil liberties around the globe. It is composed of numerical ratings and supporting descriptive texts for 195 countries and 15 territories. Freedom in the World has been published since 1973, allowing Freedom House to track global trends in freedom over more than 40 years. In 2020, the number of Free countries in the world reached its lowest level since the beginning of a 15 year period of global democratic decline, while the number of Not Free countries reached its highest level.

Some people criticize the US because it wants to promote freedom and democracy in the world. Freedom House says that US president Biden’s administration has pledged to make support for democracy a key part of US foreign policy, raising hopes for a more proactive American role in reversing the global democratic decline.