Chinese Calculus and Chinese Capitalism
Is China Communist? No.
by Andrew Bast
Pop Quiz! One question, and it seems simple. Q) Is China Communist? A) Yes, there are more than a billion commies living the Marxist utopian ideal in the East. B) No, theyre unforgiving, shrewd, money-hungry capitalists like the rest of us.
Correct answer: B.
Chinas no more red than Michael Moore telling his accountant to buy low and sell high.
China is only communist in the most limited sense, Suzanne Ogden, a China scholar and professor at Northeastern University told The Inquirer. There is a one-party system of rule. Apart from that, theres no pursuit of communist ideology or serious pursuit of Marxism. There are a lot of wealthy people in China.
CommiespullToday, Chinas no different than France, Germany, or Great Britain when they controlled major industries like telecommunications, Ogden explained. As it stands, some Chinese industry is still socialized, but especially in the last ten years, the party has relinquished even more of that dominance.
No commies in China? Youve got to be kidding. Actually, wealthy Chinese are no joke. As the unleashed Chinese economy surges, an affluent class has emergedmuch like a hillbilly whos won an all-expenses paid life in the social circles of the Upper East Side.
While China, the worlds most populous nation with 1.3 billion people, still enforces a one-child policy, families raking in dough are spending accordingly. That one kid (imagine a country full of only children!) could be enrolled in an after-school junior M.B.A. program by the age of five. Horse-riding lessons, dancing classes and high tea. The Hamptons in Beijing.
There is a seedy underbelly to the capitalist enterprise. Swaths of the population lose social services in exchange for those horse-riding lessons. Maos Cultural Revolution in 1960s and 70s produced a 90% literate populace, and no worker went without healthcare. This is history.
To put it simply, the western half of the country has caught the short end of the stick. Work centers, now privatized, have gone bankrupt and are without medical services. Farmers cant pay school fees for their children. Ogden says it's going very poorly. The government is working on the problemeradicating school fees, for instancebut the communal ideal is undoubtedly a vanquished reality.
Since Deng Xiaoping commenced economic reforms in 1978, the Chinese economy has grown at a staggering 9% annually. China entered the World Trade Organization in 2001, decidedly signaling the former communist states transformation into a capitalist superpower.
Perhaps Deng addressed the coming transformation decades ago when he said, Doesnt matter if the cat is white or black, as long as it catches the mouse.
