Posted on 07/25/2008 2:46:56 AM PDT by robertvance
While Mao’s body has been amazingly preserved since his death in 1976, it seems that his spirit has not survived the test of time. He may lie in eternal peace inside his Mausoleum but the world around him has changed considerably; China is no longer the gray and drab country that it was during Mao’s time. It is now a place where people can dream and then go out and make that dream come true. It is not like the old days. People other than just high government officials can drive cars. Chinese people can do business and store up wealth for themselves. Peasants can go to the university now; finding food to eat is no longer such a grave concern. Just around the corner from where Chairman Mao lies in State, the American restaurant chain McDonald’s is full of Chinese people enjoying greasy food and a cool environment. Inside homes, people can watch Western movies on DVD and even occasionally on state owned television. The world is just a mouse click away for the millions of Chinese people who have access to the Internet. Friends and family are no longer afraid of discussing politics with each other. It is even acceptable to criticize the government behind closed doors. All this is happening as Chairman Mao sleeps peacefully at Tiananmen Square. If only he knew.
(Excerpt) Read more at teachabroadchina.com ...
Where did I say that China is a democracy? There are a lot of human rights violators out there in the world that we do not label as communists. You don’t have to be communist to be bad.
Here are two articles that I wrote about the one child policy in China.
http://www.teachabroadchina.com/china-one-child-policy-earthquake/
http://www.teachabroadchina.com/girls-one-child-policy/
Believe me...I do not defend the policy in the least bit.
It’s still a strongly socialist country, but more of the nationalist type. Anything you own or do is still subject to state control at the whim of the rulers, which is pretty much the definition of fascism.
What we are seeing is a variation of Lenin's New Economic Policy. The Party is allowing free enterprise in order to create wealth. When there is enough wealth to harvest, the Party will take it and shoot anybody who says anything about it
Troll. You have no idea what you’re talking about.
Democrats?
Show me a public assembly criticizing the gov’t without being run over by tanks, and I’ll start to believe you.
I think there have been numerous demonstrations out west in the past couple of months. When they remain peaceful, they get little attention. When they turn violent, they get reported in the news.
It is quite true that they won’t allow any demonstrations in Beijing during the Olympics. But I’ve seen no tanks.
I’ve seen numerous examples of art exhibits protesting for more freedom in China. They don’t get shut down and lots of people visit them.
It’s no “Shangri-la” here, but it’s not like 1989 either.
You’re right, of course. I suspect that most of the anti-China folks here haven’t been there or haven’t been there recently. People do speak out, not “against the government,” but against government policies. This seems to be tolerated as long as you don’t touch one of the “third rails” — e.g., Taiwan independence, overthrowing the party, etc.
As long as we’re being provocative, I’ll go a couple steps further:
1. There is more freedom in China today than there was in the American south up to the civil rights movement.
2. China moves toward more freedom for its people while nations like England and Canada often seem to be moving in the opposite direction.
3. If Ayn Rand woke up today in Shanghai or Beijing and took a walk around, she’d ask in amazement, “When were the Communists defeated?”
What kind of ChiCom propaganda crap is this? Give me a break.
From the article:
“where is communism still manifested in China today? Where are the basic Communist values of sharing and equality evident in Chinese society now? They cannot be found. Quite simply, China is no longer a communist country.
If we are looking for evidence of communism in China, the first and most important place to look is at the economy. The economy in China is now decidedly capitalistic in nature. Average Chinese citizens can start their own businesses and put their income into private bank accounts. Chinese citizens can buy stocks in companies and enjoy the revenues or suffer the losses. As of just a few years ago, private property rights have been greatly enhanced in China, and Chinese people can now be more secure that their land will not be taken away from them.”
Several years ago, there was a discussion thread here on FR along the subject of “would the United States go to war with China over Taiwan?”
I replied that, no, we would not, for a very good reason: it would not be worth it because the “two Chinas” were becoming more alike, and that re-unification would be a natural outcome of this progress. Even reunification “under duress”.
The conventional rationale throughout the Cold War was that Taiwan represented freedom (and capitalism), whereas “Red” China represented Communism and slavery.
Once that may have been true, but no longer. Communist countries simply do not operate as China operates today. Granted, the political system has yet to be “opened up” as has the ecomonic system, but in time that must happen, too. I have read about an increasing number of “Christian converts” among the Chinese. If Christianity ever begins to gain a significant foothold in China, watch out, for it is the combination of Christianity and a hunger for freedom (along with knowledge for knowledge’s sake) that created “the West”.
Aside from the fading one-party system in mainland China, there is less and less from which to distinguish it from Taiwan. There is less and less “to go to war for”. Contrast this with Israel, a beacon of freedom surrounded by the darkness of Islam. Even the leaders of China understand Islam, and - amazingly - seem to confront its domestic threat with more fortitude than we do here.
There will never be war between the United States and China over Taiwan. It’s no longer worth American blood and treasure to go to war over two “like nations” that really should re-unite into one. Even the Soviets, at the end of their days, understood this about Germany.
- John
If it is doing well, then there is something good about being fascist; like Kalifornia. LOL.
I agree with you. Just a few weeks ago, I wrote a post entitled “How Money Threatens to Reunite China and Taiwan.” You can see it here....
http://www.teachabroadchina.com/china-taiwan-flights-reunification/
Reunification seems inevitable especially when you consider the economic aspects.
Of course it is not communist. Everyone except Kim Il Jong, Fidel Castro, Evo Morales, and Hugo Chavez has figured out communism is dead.
China’s government is still brutally totalitarian. Is that any better? Were Mussolini and Hitler better than Stalin and Mao (omitting, of course, of total body count - Mao is still king there)?
Economic self-determination was but one of many rights trampled upon by communist governments. Is it any tribute to them that they have found it to their advantage to loosen up the economic repression in order to maintain its stranglehold on all other rights?
Beat me to it.
you don't suppose it might be because they're still a bunch of f'in Commies do you? No ethics, no morals, the State remains supreme over the individual? Yeah, that's Communism.
That's the practical reality that Commnuism inevitably brings. The author is noting that those in power in the CCP are using capitalistic economic principles, not communist economic principles, to continue to hold their position. It's a valid and interesting point... made even more intriguing since China refuses to say it openly, and calls their policies "Chinese Socialism", LOL.
I have been delighted to have extended conversations with numerous CCP members (especially over copious amounts of beer), and they are almost universal in their defense of communist economic principles... up until the liquor brings out the truth. They're not stupid. They tell me that Communism hasn't worked anywhere, and it is not the path to a successful nation. However, that's the party in power (by law, as written in their Constitution), and so one can have a better life for their families and heirs simply by pretending. For most, it's an easy choice, especially coming from parents who likely lived hand-to-mouth when they were children.
The CCP knows that they are one large riot away from having their position truly endangered. Tiannenmen Square in 1988 scared them witless, and was the reason they reacted so... poorly. Although we don't hear much about it outside of China, there are near-DAILY riots in China even now. The economic explosion has not reached the rural areas, but news of the lifestyle that Chinese in the cities enjoy certainly has. In a supposedly fair and communal system, this doesn't come as welcome news. With only 2 million soldiers, 25 million non-believing members with paper=thin loyalty (and probably only a cadre of hard-core believers numbering only 200,000), it would only take a coordinated uprising of only 2% of the population to put them in true jeopardy. (2% of 1.3 billion is about 26 million). That's a major reason why China is so suspicious of religion... any organization that can motivate people in numbers represents real danger to their supremacy!
That will be a great day in world history. Hopefully it comes sooner than later.
Chinese Regime Implicated in Staging Violence in Lhasa—UPDATED
Agents Provocateur? ["Tibetan supporter" who attacked torch bearer may be Chinese agent]
China salaries overseas Chinese for anti-Tibetan protests (rent-a-mob: $350 per head)
‘Beijing orchestrating Tibet riots’
Attack on an American volunteer by anti-Carrefour mob in Zhuzhou, Hunan
"The cab driver was shouting at him to get out. Then they started hitting the car.
The crowd was shouting "kill him! kill the Frenchman."" (he was actually an American but small difference to a government hired mob)
Here is an entire thread devoted to ChiCom trolling.
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