An ideology begins with the belief that things can be better, and then evolves into a plan to improve the currant state of a society. During the 20th century, the world witnessed the confrontation of two political, social, and economic ideologies: capitalism and communism. Capitalism appeared when Scottish economist Adam Smith published "The Wealth of Nations" during the late 1700's. Almost a century later, as a reaction to capitalism, Karl Marx published "The Communist Manifesto"; …showed first 75 words of 547 total…

…showed last 75 words of 547 total…system reflects human nature, better than the communist system. Capitalism survived many major depressions, thanks to its flexibility. It is today the most prominent economic system in the world. Communism on the other hand was never literally applied. Different types of communist systems existed: Maoism, Leninism, and Titoism. Most of these systems never reached a real utopist communist society, but as a matter of fact became tyrannies, a fact that led to there inevitable decline.