Section A: After reading the chapter on The Cold War in the American Yawp textbook,what are some important events or ideas you learned in your readings? Do you have anunderstanding as to why the policy of “containment” was so important? How did the Cold War impact Americans at home?
Section B: After watching the video on Communism vs. Socialism, do you have abetter understanding of the differences? Try this creative exercise: come up with a fun(or silly) creative example to explain the differences between Communism, Socialismand Capitalism. For example: the example I use in my face to face classes is Starbucks. Starbucks is aplace where individual identity is celebrated. I have thousands of choices andcombinations in which to design the cup of coffee I want. If I owneda Starbucks franchise in a capitalist society, the price of coffee is set by supply anddemand. I have to keep my coffee prices low enough to compete with other coffeechains. If I set my prices too high, then customers will take their business to othercoffee places. However, if I lived in a Socialist society and the government had controlover all of the coffee shops, I might be limited to only one or two choices of coffee. Andthey can set the price however they see fit. So I could end up paying $10 for a cup ofcoffee and have no voice in which to complain if I feel it is too high a price. (a verysimplistic example, but makes my point).
Section C: What have you learned from the video on The Cold War? Whenever I think about The Cold War, I am reminded of a film I saw as a child, a 1983film called “War Games.”
