Western coverage of events in China is highlighting a lurch leftwards by Xi Jinping. But this misunderstands Beijing’s approach and is fuelled by dismay that Xi has not followed the path that the West wanted him to.
I don't look at Marxism as a set of unchanging dogmas, but a living ideology that examines contradictions from a scientific perspective, and therefore has to evolve and change as history progresses and as we learn new information. Actual revolutions and existing socialist experiments have shown that getting beyond wage labor and the dominance of capital is very difficult, and cannot be done on a basis of poverty. I admire the CPC because ever since the Chinese revolution, and especially since the period of Reform and Opening Up, they've been able to tremendously improve the living conditions of the Chinese people. If they had followed a strictly capitalist path, they could not have done this, as the history of capitalism decisively shows.
Yes, China has wage labor and capitalists, but that's not the be all and end all to Marxism- there's also the fundamental irrationality of an economy that's dominated by profit. Mao Zedong defined capitalism as a system of "profits in command," and systems of profit in command create poverty amidst abundance. Looking at the Chinese economy today, profits are not in command of it. The major sectors of the economy are controlled by the state, which works to benefit the people through five-year plans. The advances and surpluses created by the market sector do not create new poor people, but rather serve to lift up the living standards of the people as a whole. The lives of the workers may have many difficulties, but when you compare their standard of living now vs. before the revolution, they are much better off. This is a result of rational planning, what Engels calls socialized production according to a predetermined plan.
If profit was not the driving force of the Chinese economy, in which I include foreign investors in economic zones, why are the worker benefits and protections so poor and the hours expected of them so high? Profit in the name of reallocation to the parties directives is still profit raised from the worker that they do not receive. I'm not trying to argue that the Chinese citizen's standard of living in relation to their peasant past/other 3rd world countries has not greatly increased, I'm arguing that they can go much further than they are now in providing for their workers. There are homeless people in china, the Chinese healthcare system is almost identical to the United States one. China is the second-largest economy, soon to be the largest, if they can not provide mediocre relief for their workers currently, what hope is there in the future to free the populace from wage slavery?
I don't know that it's clear that they could be doing better. They have the second largest economy, but they also have an enormous population of over a billion people, and raising all their living standards is naturally going to take a very long time, especially from the incredibly low base they started from. I don't think it's reasonable to judge them by how well you theoretically think they could be doing, but by how they're actually doing and how they've done. And it seems like they're going in the direction you'd prefer. The 996 workday was just declared illegal, the past decade has seen a massive project to eliminate extreme poverty, and capital is being reigned in.
the Chinese healthcare system is almost identical to the United States one
Considering how often and how easily Chinese people go to the doctor, I don't think that's true. They may have private actors in health care, but only the US has problems with health insurance debt and bankruptcies.
China most definitely has an issue with healthcare debt/bankruptcies lol???? And where are you in the US where you can't easily go to a doctor/ER? (obviously, you'll get fucked money-wise, but general access to care normally is not an issue I've heard about, just the debt resulting)
It's not my job to answer for this or that policy decision that China has. I'm sure that if I did more research on this, I'd find the healthcare situation to be complicated and evolving and not at all black and white, just like with every other gotcha bit of trivia people use to try to attack them. Socialism isn't defined by one policy or issue. I've already given you plenty of information to argue for why China is a socialist state.
It’s not my job to answer for this or that policy decision that China has.
Not taking a side in this debate, but honestly I find the "it's not my job!" retort fucking lazy and sad.
Wasn't you're job to get into a debate in the first place, nothing on this forum is "your job". If someone brings something up you can respond to it or not, but saying that it's not literally part of your professional responsibilities isn't a fucking excuse for a lack of a response. I'd respect people more if they just said "I can't be arsed to do this".
The reason I'm saying "it's not my job" is because I have enough intellectual humility to understand that I don't know, and can't know, every good or bad thing that's happening in China. I'm not the one trying to deligitimize their claim to being a socialist state based on one potential policy.
I’m not the one trying to deligitimize their claim to being a socialist state based on one potential policy.
No but you are trying to legitimize their claim by posting a bunch of info. That’s sort of a “job” you took on there.
FYI I’m mostly agreeing with you in this discourse. Just hate the fucking “it’s not my job” bs. If that’s really how you feel just abandoned this whole endeavor and go touch some fucking grass.
I don't look at Marxism as a set of unchanging dogmas, but a living ideology that examines contradictions from a scientific perspective, and therefore has to evolve and change as history progresses and as we learn new information. Actual revolutions and existing socialist experiments have shown that getting beyond wage labor and the dominance of capital is very difficult, and cannot be done on a basis of poverty. I admire the CPC because ever since the Chinese revolution, and especially since the period of Reform and Opening Up, they've been able to tremendously improve the living conditions of the Chinese people. If they had followed a strictly capitalist path, they could not have done this, as the history of capitalism decisively shows.
Yes, China has wage labor and capitalists, but that's not the be all and end all to Marxism- there's also the fundamental irrationality of an economy that's dominated by profit. Mao Zedong defined capitalism as a system of "profits in command," and systems of profit in command create poverty amidst abundance. Looking at the Chinese economy today, profits are not in command of it. The major sectors of the economy are controlled by the state, which works to benefit the people through five-year plans. The advances and surpluses created by the market sector do not create new poor people, but rather serve to lift up the living standards of the people as a whole. The lives of the workers may have many difficulties, but when you compare their standard of living now vs. before the revolution, they are much better off. This is a result of rational planning, what Engels calls socialized production according to a predetermined plan.
If profit was not the driving force of the Chinese economy, in which I include foreign investors in economic zones, why are the worker benefits and protections so poor and the hours expected of them so high? Profit in the name of reallocation to the parties directives is still profit raised from the worker that they do not receive. I'm not trying to argue that the Chinese citizen's standard of living in relation to their peasant past/other 3rd world countries has not greatly increased, I'm arguing that they can go much further than they are now in providing for their workers. There are homeless people in china, the Chinese healthcare system is almost identical to the United States one. China is the second-largest economy, soon to be the largest, if they can not provide mediocre relief for their workers currently, what hope is there in the future to free the populace from wage slavery?
I don't know that it's clear that they could be doing better. They have the second largest economy, but they also have an enormous population of over a billion people, and raising all their living standards is naturally going to take a very long time, especially from the incredibly low base they started from. I don't think it's reasonable to judge them by how well you theoretically think they could be doing, but by how they're actually doing and how they've done. And it seems like they're going in the direction you'd prefer. The 996 workday was just declared illegal, the past decade has seen a massive project to eliminate extreme poverty, and capital is being reigned in.
Considering how often and how easily Chinese people go to the doctor, I don't think that's true. They may have private actors in health care, but only the US has problems with health insurance debt and bankruptcies.
China most definitely has an issue with healthcare debt/bankruptcies lol???? And where are you in the US where you can't easily go to a doctor/ER? (obviously, you'll get fucked money-wise, but general access to care normally is not an issue I've heard about, just the debt resulting)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-healthcare-debt/china-healthcare-costs-forcing-patients-into-crippling-debt-idUSKCN0ZQ03A
https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-020-05551-5
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/2012-07/11/content_15568517.htm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-05/17/content_12522497.htm
It's not my job to answer for this or that policy decision that China has. I'm sure that if I did more research on this, I'd find the healthcare situation to be complicated and evolving and not at all black and white, just like with every other gotcha bit of trivia people use to try to attack them. Socialism isn't defined by one policy or issue. I've already given you plenty of information to argue for why China is a socialist state.
Not taking a side in this debate, but honestly I find the "it's not my job!" retort fucking lazy and sad.
Wasn't you're job to get into a debate in the first place, nothing on this forum is "your job". If someone brings something up you can respond to it or not, but saying that it's not literally part of your professional responsibilities isn't a fucking excuse for a lack of a response. I'd respect people more if they just said "I can't be arsed to do this".
The reason I'm saying "it's not my job" is because I have enough intellectual humility to understand that I don't know, and can't know, every good or bad thing that's happening in China. I'm not the one trying to deligitimize their claim to being a socialist state based on one potential policy.
No but you are trying to legitimize their claim by posting a bunch of info. That’s sort of a “job” you took on there.
FYI I’m mostly agreeing with you in this discourse. Just hate the fucking “it’s not my job” bs. If that’s really how you feel just abandoned this whole endeavor and go touch some fucking grass.
Leave me the fuck alone
It’s a public forum dude, if you’re goal is to be left alone I wouldn't post here. Perhaps take my previous advice.
disengaging from this
Welp thanks for taking my advice then.