Happy Birthday Chairman Mao

One of the myths perpetuated on westerners is that China is an economic juggernaut fueled by the embracement of capitalist market reforms.  Chinese look at the western beliefs in Santa Claus and God to support the idea westerners will believe just about anything.  Our ability to understand things, at least from Chinese perspective, is equivalent to how we would view such ability in an uncontacted tribe deep in the Amazon rain forest.  Letting a few Chinese say they own something is not adoption of market reforms when control stays with the state.  Most of the economic activity of China is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for the exclusive benefit of the Chinese people.  Every organization is subservient to the Five-Year Plan, the key economic planning document of Lenin-communist economics. To think any Chinese person can operate independently of direction and control of the CCP is hilariously delusional.

China is not an economic miracle.   Just because one wants it to be true or Chinese authorities state it is true, does not change the reality that China remains a country deeply committed to communism.  The standard of living for Chinese has not budged.  The percentage of car ownership for age-eligible drivers is 2 % in China.  This compares to 98 % ownership in the United States.  Volkswagen totes its success in China, but that success is not in the consumer market, but in the domination of taxi fleets.  If the Soviet Union ever manages to make an automobile that can run reliably for 10,000 miles and uses four wheels, Volkswagen will lose its advantage. 

Mao Zedong, the Chinese George Washington, was born on December 26^th.  This year would have been Mao’s 120^th birthday.  Mao came of age in the chaotic China following the collapse of the Qin Dynasty.  As was the calling for all young people in China of Mao’s age, he casted about for a way to replace the order and control of thousands of years of rule by the emperor in Beijing.  Mao’s answer was Communism, to which Mao was an early convert. 

As would be expected, not all China agreed with the Communist’s view of China.  The most significant obstacle was the writings of Marx and Lenin lacked relevance in China.  There was no class struggle focused on the control of the means of production in China.  Mao made his most significant contribution of Chinese communism by casting the class struggle, central to Marxism, as focused on the urban and rural classes of Chinese society.  The other obstacle was winning a series of military campaigns.  By 1949 all things had been overcome and the People’s Republic of China was founded.

Happy Birthday, Mao Zedong.

Was Mao a leftist or rightist on the political spectrum in China?  Is Mao’s thoughts supported or discredited in China today? Is Xi Jinping a leftist or rightist?  Is it important to understand China?

I was a teacher at the Mianyang Foreign Languages School in Sichuan Province of the People’s Republic of China.  I was discharged after 30 days.  I received no salary, severance, or travel reimbursement.

Please consider using countries that do not violate human rights for your future activities.