Sanders speaks....
"If a country as backward as China was decides to sacrifice tens of millions
of people now so that hundreds of millions may prosper later, can we really say
that a wrong has been done?"
Posted on 08/30/2019 5:02:13 PM PDT by John Semmens
Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt) praised the Chinese government for making "more progress in addressing extreme poverty than any country in the history of civilization. While it is unfortunate that millions had to die in order to achieve these results, we shouldn't let bourgeois prejudices totally blind us to the positive aspects of their accomplishments. Sometimes harsh methods are required to do hard tasks."
"If a country as backward as China was decides to sacrifice tens of millions of people now so that hundreds of millions may prosper later, can we really say that a wrong has been done?" Sanders asked. "And let's not overlook the environmental benefits of lessening population growth. Every new human life taxes the planet's resources and pollutes nature. Every human life eliminated reduces these evils. I think we should learn from China's experiences, imitate their successes and try to avoid their failures."
"My main beef with China is that it has relied on top-down authoritarian dictatorship to govern," Sanders complained. "I think everyone would be more comfortable with a democratic socialist, bottom-up method of making the kinds of decisions needed. If sacrifices are required the mechanism that I prefer is democratic decision making. If the elected representatives of the people determine that some must sacrifice for the benefit of the collective whole, that is a morally just decision. We can still get to the promised land that Marx predicted, but do it by democratic means. Citizens will more willingly accept democratically arrived at decisions and there will be less need to repress the selfish individuals who resist the march of history toward true communism."
In related news, Sanders lost the vote of San Francisco restaurant owner John Konstin for "being rude and cranky" during a campaign stop at his eatery. Bernie was unmoved by the owner's complaint saying "my being here with my 15 aides brought him a lot of free publicity. I shouldn't also have to be nice to his waiters. It's his obligation to be nice to me. When I'm president he'll wish he were. Presidents have ways of repaying those who help or hurt them after they win an election."
if you missed any of this week's other semi-news/semi-satire posts you can find them at...
https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Opinion/267322-2019-08-30-semi-news-semi-satire-september-1-2019-edition.htm
ping
For the Greater Good, of course.
What are the Chinese words for “Soylent Green” haha
That's abhorrent, but almost rational. It is certainly better than Bernie could do.
Your satire is, of course, based on the fact that Sanders praised China for their rapid recovery from poverty and starvation. Sanders is an idiot.
The starvation in the 1950s was mostly Mao’s doing. Many farmers in China at that time were subsistence farmers. They produced very little excess food for trade. He took food from the farmers and gave it to the Russians in exchange for military equipment and for Russian help with building factories to produce military equipment. Mao deliberately starved millions of his own people to build an army.
So, when you set the standard that low, it’s easy to make your recovery seem heroic.
Sanders speaks....
"If a country as backward as China was decides to sacrifice tens of millions
of people now so that hundreds of millions may prosper later, can we really say
that a wrong has been done?"
That sentence is part of the satire portion of John's semi-satire. Sanders may believe it, but he did not say it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.