LogFAQs > #956383001

China is without a doubt the shining example of communism's success. Before China was communist, the country did not have adequate productive forces to produce enough food for its population, so people would regularly starve to death during peacetime. In addition, China was under-developed by other imperialist countries. Basically they destroyed China's industry and did not allow them to build factories or mills.

Now lets turn to the accomplishments of Chinese socialism and we find today that China has achieved food security, feeding 22% of the world's population with only 9% of the arable land. Also, the world's largest steel company, Baowu, is in China. The world's largest hydroelectric power plant is also in China, called Three Gorges Dam. The World Bank, hardly a bastion of pro-socialist thought, reports that about 850 million people have been lifted out of extreme poverty between the years 1981 and 2015. Here in the capitalist U.S. ending poverty is not even a goal. Instead the U.S. wages a war on the poor. The average life expectancy of Chinese people rose 42 years, from 35 years in 1949 to 77 years in 2018. Compare this to the U.S. where life expectancy has declined for several years in a row.

It is also beyond dispute that there is a large section of Chinas economy that is, in essence, capitalist in nature and that gives play to the market. This sector has been harnessed to assist Chinas development and faces restriction for example state banking institutions favor state-owned enterprises, production facilities and distribution networks that are owned and controlled by the peoples government, yet, because China is not a capitalist country, there are no periodic crises of capitalism. Capitalism is governed by economic laws and so is socialism. The result is that class struggle continues to be a factor in society and inside the Communist Party and it could not be otherwise.

This method I have used of stressing the strong points but noting the problems is the approach that should be used by revolutionary and progressive persons. If there are problems with China they can be acknowledged or talked about there is nothing wrong with that. But the method we reject is that of subjective idealism, where an image of socialism is created in ones mind and that image is pitted against reality and then that reality doesnt measure up. Be it China, Cuba, or Democratic Korea - we all know people who pick up one or more imagined and/or real defect and then say, Well its not socialism. Its not socialism because it is not in accordance with what I want it to be. This approach is wrong and ultimately foolish, and no one wants to be a fool.

---

"If you wanna grow your business you need to exploit more." ~Austin_Era_II
"Out of those two? Racist for me... easily." ~Vicious_Dios