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The Chinese may not be quite as successful as they appear: There are internal problems unique to totalitarian societies that are already gnawing away at China’s innards
American Thinker ^ | 04/25/2021 | Andrea Widburg

Posted on 04/25/2021 9:42:36 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

From where we sit today, with a feckless president sliding into dementia, whose family has received billions from the Chinese and who may be caught in the web of blackmail for his, or his son’s, sexual predilections, China is in the catbird seat and we are doomed. Perhaps, though, China is not as all-powerful or impregnable as it appears. Totalitarian societies have serious structural problems and China is showing all of them.

My initial premise is that there is no better system for wealth creation than the free market. Before leftists shackled America with punitive wealth transfer taxes and harmful trade agreements, America’s free-market led the world in dynamism. It was innovative, affordable, and moved humanity forward in wonderful ways. It truly was the magical Carousel of Progress that Walt Disney personally envisioned for the 1964 World’s Fair. I first saw the show in 1970, when I was a child, and I was overwhelmed by the wonder of it all. This was America, with all its promise:

China too seems to be bursting with progress, innovation, and overseas accomplishments. Except that it’s not true; not true at all.

What China has is a totalitarian mercantilist system – or let’s just be honest and call it fascism. It’s no longer purely communist insofar as China has allowed a private sector to develop and it supports wealth creation. However, while individuals can make a profit, the government still controls the private sector, underwriting it and dictating how it may operate. This underwriting allows it to compete in the world.

The “dictating how it may operate” part is more of a problem. The government is a terrible manager. Imagine if every business in your country were run by the DMV, except that the employees were treated like slaves.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ccp; china; economy; totalitarians
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1 posted on 04/25/2021 9:42:36 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
Here's a fascinating article in The Wall Street Journal:

After Chinese leader Xi Jinping ordered rural poverty eliminated by 2020, bureaucrats in the southwestern city of Mianyang got busy—with paperwork.

Instructed to devote 70% of their time to the campaign, they diligently filled out forms certifying compliance, a practice known as “leaving marks,” said Pang Jia, a local judicial clerk who joined the effort. When higher-ups demanded photographic proof of their home visits, some aid workers made up for missing winter photos by posing in cold-weather clothing during summer house calls, Ms. Pang said.

Since taking power in late 2012, Mr. Xi has realigned Chinese politics with his domineering style and a top-down drive to forge a centralized state under the Communist Party. But his efforts are running into an old foe: bureaucracy.

Party observers say the drive for centralization in a sprawling nation too often fosters bureaucratic inertia, duplicity and other unproductive practices that are aimed at satisfying Beijing and protecting careers but threaten to undermine Mr. Xi’s goals.

Chairman Xi’s trying to fight his bureaucratic problem, but it’s one intrinsic to dictatorships, so he is unlikely to prevail.

Unlike many WSJ articles, this one is not behind a paywall and I urge you to read the whole thing. We cannot get complacent about China’s goals but it helps to understand that our major geopolitical rival has weaknesses.

2 posted on 04/25/2021 9:44:27 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Everybody likes to eat General Tso’s Chicken but nobody wants to cook it.


3 posted on 04/25/2021 9:48:36 AM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer”)
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To: SeekAndFind

Be a shame if Xi Jinping ended his tenure as President of the People’s Republic of China as a lamppost decoration.


4 posted on 04/25/2021 9:48:59 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Anti-racism looks suspiciously like racism.)
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To: SeekAndFind

“ What China has is a totalitarian mercantilist system – or let’s just be honest and call it fascism.”

This is exactly what I have been saying for a long time. The question is not whether it will fail but how long it will take and how much damage will be done while in it’s death throes.


5 posted on 04/25/2021 9:52:28 AM PDT by jdsteel ("A Republic, Madam, if you can keep it." Sorry Ben, looks like we blew it.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

May have been Nixon’s motive. Same with Carter. Give them recognition, let them see how the rest of the world is doing, and then rebel. Didn’t happen but then it still could. There could be more Tianamen squares under the radar. We’ll see if it’s too late to save Taiwan.


6 posted on 04/25/2021 9:54:28 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET (`)
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To: blueunicorn6

RE: Everybody likes to eat General Tso’s Chicken but nobody wants to cook it.

Well, they PAY FOR SOMEONE ELSE to cook it, and there will always be those who will cook for a good fee.


7 posted on 04/25/2021 9:56:30 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Meanwhile, the Democrat Party has invited Communist China to gnaw at America’s innards, with the blessing and complicity of much of the US intelligentsia.


8 posted on 04/25/2021 9:57:05 AM PDT by Savage Beast (“Morality, like a chameleon, tends to take on the color of the circumambient society.” P. Yogananda)
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To: blueunicorn6

RE: Everybody likes to eat General Tso’s Chicken

BTW, Who is General Tso and what does he have to do with this dish?


9 posted on 04/25/2021 9:57:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: blueunicorn6

“Everybody likes to eat General Tso’s Chicken but nobody wants to cook it.”

Or to put it another way (”Marked for Death”-Screw Face)

“Everybody want go Heaven but nobody want die”


10 posted on 04/25/2021 10:01:55 AM PDT by billyboy15 (')
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To: SeekAndFind

I have been reading about china’s collapse since the early 2000’s.
Ain’t happened yet and they are only getting stronger and more dominant.


11 posted on 04/25/2021 10:03:44 AM PDT by setter
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To: blueunicorn6

i call it general tso’s kitten...


12 posted on 04/25/2021 10:05:13 AM PDT by heavy metal (smiling improves your face value as well as making people wonder what the hell you're up to... 😁)
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To: setter

> I have been reading about china’s collapse since the early 2000’s.
Ain’t happened yet... <

Something like 75% of what Walmart sells in made in China. And I’m sure the same is true for Target, etc. So yeah, the ChiComs might be having internal problems. But they also have a steady and reliable source of income...from us.


13 posted on 04/25/2021 10:30:40 AM PDT by Leaning Right (I have already previewed or do not wish to preview this composition.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Red China needs a major military engagement, and they need it badly. And soon.


14 posted on 04/25/2021 10:31:48 AM PDT by Psalm 73 ("You'll never hear surf music again" - J. Hendrix)
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"Chairman Xi’s trying to fight his bureaucratic problem, but it’s one intrinsic to dictatorships, so he is unlikely to prevail."

The 'problem' is being fostered by the PLA who would like to be rid of Xi and actually get a hard-liner like Mao or even Madame Mao.

They will be lucky to make the transition to a new regime without eating ashes.

15 posted on 04/25/2021 10:36:18 AM PDT by StAnDeliver (Eric Coomer of Dominion Voting Systems Is The Blue Dress)
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To: SeekAndFind

Biden’s days as President are numbered. He has had his first 100 days. All we are waiting for is the right negative story for the media to take him down like a sick wildebeest. A couple of months at most. This summer most likely.


16 posted on 04/25/2021 10:42:00 AM PDT by webheart (I already had COVID and 2 shots and it is over 2 weeks ago. Can I take the mask off?)
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To: Psalm 73

They want Taiwan and now is the time to take it. Russia will take Ukraine and China will take Taiwan. Neither Biden nor Harris has the ability to deal with both at the same time, let alone one or the other.


17 posted on 04/25/2021 10:48:14 AM PDT by webheart (I already had COVID and 2 shots and it is over 2 weeks ago. Can I take the mask off?)
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To: Leaning Right; All

LOOK WHO IS USING CHINESE SLAVES
Pro-Black Lives Matter Corporations
many are Using Chinese Slave Labor
in their factorys in that moslem province
using practices which Trump condemed
7/9/2020, 2:25:08 PM · by yoe
Daniel Greenfield/Sultan of Knish ^reports on
| July 9, 2020 | Coca-Cola CEO
would like you to know that it cares
about oppression and believes America is evil.
In a rambling statement by CEO James Quincey*
check out these postings in http://www.freerepublic.com/
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3868414/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3861557/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers.com/3863465/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2863322/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3875857/posts
Most of this is happening in the area where Turkmen (Uigurs) live
who are racially different
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3935438/posts#16
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3947339/posts


18 posted on 04/25/2021 10:55:17 AM PDT by mosesdapoet (AKA Lee J Keslin posting in the hopes comments get passed around )
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To: setter

If you want a really good look at the stuff China doesn’t want you to see, check out the YouTube channel ADVChina.

Mei Ban fa...


19 posted on 04/25/2021 10:55:31 AM PDT by Noumenon (The Second Amendment exists primarily to deal with those who just won't take no for an answer. KTF)
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To: SeekAndFind

It is difficult for a totalitarian regime to defeat apathy.


20 posted on 04/25/2021 11:08:21 AM PDT by alternatives? (If our borders are not secure, why fund an army?)
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