A Citizen's Course in
Freedom vs. Communism
The Economics of Survival

Freedom vs. Communism: The Economics of Survival (1962) US Chamber of Commerce A Citizen's Course in Freedom vs. Communism: The Economics of Survival is a notable Cold War-era educational curriculum and boxed pamphlet series published by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. Originally rolled out between 1961 and 1962, the program was designed as an eight-week course. It targeted business executives, community groups, and citizens to ground them in free-market values while contrasting them with Soviet economic strategies. The curriculum emphasized that economic strength was the ultimate weapon necessary to maintain a strong military deterrent and prevent the Cold War from escalating.

The complete boxed set contains eight individual softcover booklets, each focusing on a distinct element of the ideological and economic divide:

• The Communist Challenge: An overview of the political and systemic threats posed by the Soviet bloc.

• Consumer Control or Controlled Consumers: A comparison of how a citizen's market choices drive a free economy versus state-controlled consumption.

• Profit Motive or Master Plan: An analysis of capitalist profit incentives versus centralized socialist planning.

• Who Gets What: An exploration of income, distribution, and wealth allocation under both systems.

• The Role of Government: A study defining the limited boundaries of government intervention in market economies.

• The Big Picture: An examination of macroeconomic principles and systemic stability.

• Meeting the Economic Challenge: Strategies for sustaining private enterprise and outperforming communist growth rates.

• What You Can Do about Communism: A closing actionable manual advising citizens on how to actively counter communist subversion within their own communities.

  The program was widely adopted across corporate America during the 1960s. Major corporations—such as Boeing Aircraft, Gulf Oil, Goodyear Tire and Rubber, and Monsanto Chemical—frequently purchased the materials to conduct citizen training seminars for their public affairs officers and manufacturing plant executives.