this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
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China has only moved away from a state-run economy in the last 50 years, resulting in its current, larger and much more dynamic economy. It’s probably the world’s best current example of a country abandoning communism for capitalism, and reaping the benefits. There is wealth inequality, but fewer people are starving. All they’re keeping from their former regime is centralized single party political control.
Under economic Communism they proved over and over that a central government can’t command a entire set of industries and markets better than they can run themselves. People starved in the tens of millions finding this out. An uptick in suicide rates is nothing by comparison.
No, what they proved is it's hard as fuck to go from zero industry to the most industry when most of the world's wealthy want you to fail. Famine was and is a real societal threat and we forget that it happened regularly not that long ago.
There’s no way I’m going to let you characterize the Great Leap Forward as “famine happens.” That is absolutely criminal apologism.
Quick few things:
-The CPC brought in Capitalists to rapidly develop, while maintaining full control and refusing to let Capitalists control the state. That's why it's incredibly authoritarian there, to prevent the Capitalists from controlling the state. Socialism is supposed to come after Capitalism, not Feudalism.
-The CPC has stated intentions to become fully Socialist by 2050 and Communist by 2100.
-Even under Mao, they weren't "economically Communist." They still had a state, still had money, and still had classes. They were Socialist, and still are, just with more of a mixed market.
-Mao was an idiot, but it wasn't Socialism or Communism that caused the starvation. It started as a naturally occurring famine (the last of its kind in China, actually), but Mao responded so stupidly he told his men to kill Sparrows that were eating rice. Well, those Sparrows were holding the bugs back, and without the Sparrows the bugs ate far more rice. Is that Communism? When no Sparrows? Or one really stupid leader?
Finally, my eggs aren't all in the China basket. I'm not a massive China stan like some people here, I'm very critical of them. Socialism and Communism are gaining in popularity in other places where Capitalism is declining, such as America.