Posted on 09/06/2019 10:50:22 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
“China is in a world of hurt right now.”
Problem is the people are drones and not independent. The CCP is their mother.
I don’t forsee the people rising up anytime soon. The stats the other day something 80% off Chinese like the social credit system.
Maybe that will change down the road.
I think culture is stronger than religion or politics and slower to change, particular when things do appear to change while only changing on the surface.
Both China and Russia to me continue to reflect the political culture bequeathed from their imperial eras - only the names the players call themselves changed. The Russians went from the imperial Czars to the Soviet Czars to Putin’s mobocracy - its all the same deep down. The Chinese went from their emperors to Mao as emperor, to Deng as his regent successor to the imperial committee of the politburo - without blinking an eye or losing a step. The power center held and it was accepted by the masses. Same system under a different name.
The politburo has staying power because they did not junk the imperial Chinese culture - they hijacked it for themselves, strapped it to their agenda and occupy its power. The people of China had known no other culture of power for many centuries. They live accepting it as the Chinese way.
Playing the “nationalism” card is just one of the ways the politburo invokes the ancient Chinese culture among the people.
Like recently with Hong Kong, most mainlanders do not understand what’s wrong in Hong Kong and what the protestors argument is about - of course Beijing is in charge and it must be.
On the other side, the brief period of British colonial rule started the change in the culture of the Chinese in Hong Kong. They got a real taste for western political norms and unlike the Communists have been trying to make a true revolutionary change in some Chinese people’s thinking.
The vast majority of the masses of the mainland can’t see it because they themselves have never had a taste of the political environment that the folks in Hong Kong had.
Resting that imperial Chinese consciousness - the imperial power center of the politburo is normal and O.K. - away from the mainlanders is not in the cards in our lifetimes, in my opinion.
They have essentially been a homogeneous hive-culture for centuries.
Even if they officially abandoned communism, I don't believe it would, in practical terms, be much different.
Being such a large country with a long history the only way it could survive is with a strong centralized leadership. They have no history of 'democracy'; it's not in their genes.
Communist Party Chairman or Emperor. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
The key to freedom in both cases is a vast middle class.
I’ve never understood how the Chinese people (who are smarter than average, have decent cultural wisdom, and are hard workering) could constantly create cultures that push up totalitarian thugs to top spots?
I’m sure it’s a major flaw in the culture - but I can’t see it... Anyone have a clue? What’s the culture incentive.
Check out home turf. The majority of people under 30 favor socialism over capitalism according to polls.
The love towards strongmen is a result of insecurities based on poverty or need of phisical protection which can’t be provided on your own.
So the bet is which country collapses first,China or the USA? The bet is not as easy as one would think with so many factors. Thank god for 2A.
“I’m sure it’s a major flaw in the culture - but I can’t see it... Anyone have a clue? What’s the culture incentive.”
Civil stability over change. Life is O.K. when at least it is predictable, you know the rules to navigate it, and you know the rules won’t change all that much mid stream.
Yet, that stability does come at a cost. Indifference to others.
A good friend of mine was killed - stabbed to death - in a public place - an outdoor shopping plaza, in Beijing. She was visiting with a Chinese friend who had gone to work that day, so she was out in the afternoon at that shopping plaza. She witnessed a man attacking - stabbing - an old man nearby. She thought the attacker had left and went over to try to help the old man - being the Christian that she was. She was the only one that went to the old man’s aid. But the attacker had not left the area, saw my friend helping the old man and came back and attacked her - stabbing her multiple times. She bled to death there. No one went to her aid except when finally some emergency workers and police arrived - it was too late.
Indifference.
It's an old mono-culture that has been held together by a central monarchy; Emperor or Party Chairman. Mao simply changed the old central government for his version of a central government.
How much different is there between an Emperors and a Party Chairman? Did either ever permit dissent?
We can debate the age but it's an old nation and they have no cultural history of democracy.
If communism fails I doubt it will be replace with a western-style democracy.
East is east. West is west.
“The key to freedom in both cases is a vast middle class.”
B.S. That is no different than saying that with economic liberalization will come political liberalization. The American political elites have been selling that myth ever since the “opening” to China, and it is quite obviously a myth, and it totally misunderstands how power is derived and works in China.
Communist regimes generally do not last beyond 75 years or 3 generations. They are reactionary governments. Once the founders die off there’s little justification for the system to remain.
Sales to America are18% of their GDP. I’m worried when any one client is anywhere near 5% of my revenue.
I got your point but you didn’t even try to explain it.
Among the pivots of freedom is a right to private property. Most of the rest are subservient to safeguard it.
People who has property and don’t want to lose it value all the rest of freedoms for that very reason.
You won’t find the example of a free empoverished society. They are basically selling out their freedom for handouts and they have nothing to lose to start with.
Neither rich nor poor are interested in freedom.
Just five years China had near zero export to Russia. Now it is about fifth of that to US. They are exporting more to Europe and Latin America and soon to dominate Africa although Africa is not a market to sell that much although there is a room for improvement with near a billion potential customers. They have a room to expand domestic consumption too. Economy is not export only.
You can have a growing middle class, without that middle class owning the property they live on. MOST of the middle class in China today are renters in cities. LAND cannot be privately owned in China. A person may own a building on some land, but can never own the land. Everyone in China is in that sense a tenant. The single biggest cohort of mainland Chinese middle class is folks who work for the government.
Life is cheap in China. Russia to an extent.
Seen too many youtube videos of people in China being harmed and other people continue to walk right by without giving any assistance.
I like Trump—but it is not possible for him to stop the rot in all of our institutions—education, media, corporations, non-profits, and of course the Deep State.
But that you describe is not a real middle class. Government employees aren’t true middle class as well.
I am talking about real middle class.
Agree on all your points. Just saying that a client who delivers 18% of your revenue has some control over you. Add some rebellion among your top revenue-producing employees (Hong Kong) and you’ve got a serious problem.
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