Sacred Heart Professors Debate Capitalism Vs. Socialism

Sacred Heart University professors defended their strong opinions on two economic systems before a packed audience of students, faculty and staff at “The Great Debate: Capitalism vs. Socialism: What is Best for America?”

From left are Professors Gary Rose, Burton Spivak, Lucjan Orlowski, Amanda Moras and Bill Yousman.

The debate, moderated by Gary Rose, professor and chair of the Department of Government, saw communication and media studies professor Bill Yousman and sociology professor Amanda Moras defend socialism, while history professor Burton Spivak and economics professor Lucjan Orlowski sided with capitalism. Michael W. Higgins, distinguished professor of Catholic thought, opened and closed the event with brief remarks on the importance of such debates.

Each professor had four minutes to explain why the system they defended was better. This was followed by three-minute rebuttals by each faculty member before audience members directed questions toward the professors, who then made closing statements.

Spivak spent his four minutes explaining the history of capitalism. He said it creates an increase in productivity and provides workers with more benefits, not fewer. Orlowski echoed some of Spivak’s statements.

“Capitalism relies on freedom of the individual rather than uniformity of social values,” he said.

Capitalism also gives people freedom and diversity in their spending choices, while socialism forces consumers into uniformity, Orlowski said. Moreover, capitalism promotes income creation, while socialism emphasizes equitable income distribution, but income needs to be created first before it could be distributed, he said.

“Innovation is embedded in capitalism,” Orlowski said, noting that the growth of tech companies and advances in numerous fields all happened under capitalism.

Yousman started his four minutes with a little humor. “I’m a socialist,” he said. “But I don’t have horns or a tail…some people even think I’m a nice person.” Yousman said he believes in socialist principles such as sharing resources. He stated he does not believe in dictators, and he does believe democratic socialism allows for free and fair elections and ensures people have individual rights and freedoms.

Under capitalism, he said, there are 40 million poor people in America, and therefore society needs to be restructured.

Moras agreed that capitalism hurts more people. She said certain social services—such as education and health care—should not be provided for profit, and the wealthy should stop using their wealth to build more.

In their rebuttals, professors reiterated their beliefs and continued to do so as they answered students’ questions.

In closing remarks, Spivak said it’s a shame that capitalists are seen as the bad guys and socialists as the good guys. He cited several countries that have failed or severely struggled under socialism, such as the Soviet Union and Cuba. He said that, before capitalism, lineage determined a person’s potential. “Capitalism unhinged that,” he said. “Capitalism helped sweep away the old feudal order of birth, rank and aristocracy because ‘money’ is inherently egalitarian and does not ask questions about lineage. Society became freer because making money as the road to dignity and brighter futures was open to all."

Orlowski said capitalism allows entrepreneurs to prosper. “Amazon’s Jeff Bezos contribution to our economy and society matters more for the American prosperity than his wealth. How many jobs has he created, and how much innovation has he created,” he said.

On behalf of socialism, Moras said there are many issues that face the world, such as climate change, and while there may be solutions to solve them, she only sees them getting knocked down by politicians and the corporations that control them.

Before getting into his closing remarks, Yousman said he respected his colleagues’ opinions and intentions. He asked the audience who could disagree with having free public education, civil rights, Medicare, Social Security, laws against child labor and more. He said all of this historically had been fought for by socialists against strong opposition.

In closing, Higgins told the audience that after the night’s discussion, it’s possible they’ve changed their minds and that’s a positive development.