Flaming_Maniac wrote:
k, you kids have fun answering whether China is communist or not while fucking up the definition of communism. It facilitates good dialogue while promoting understanding.
Don't be such a pedant.
The fact of the matter is China isn't communist - and never was. We can disagree as to the formal academic term "communism" as opposed to the commonly used term "communism" in descriptions of China, but that is really not what the debate here is. Picking apart a place-holder because the use of it in everyday converstation describing China's government/economic system is incorrect (and has been since the formation of Maoist China) really doesn't facilitate anything other than your own penchant for missing the boat on the discussion - which is "Is China and communism one and the same?" Well, no, it's not. That's the easy part. But instead of picking apart the place holder term, why not show why it's use in everyday conversation is incorrect?
Now why is China not communist? Well, from FM's point of view, it's because communism denotes solely an economic system, not a government (which is wrong). That's like asking, is the US capitalist? No, because capitalism denotes an economic system. But we've already agreed here that the US primarily runs a capitalist system of economic theory and social contract. So one could correctly say that yes, in fact, the US is capitalist (among other things). But China has never run a communist form of economy or social contract. The workers have never owned the means of production in Chinese society - the centralized one-party system has. There has never been an all-out effort for a classless society - the ruling one-party system has sought out dominance in a tiered class system since Mao's fighting with the Nationalists. The masters of revolution in China (Mao and his power players, and since then the ruling elite in China) used the guise of a "communist society" to gain popular support for their power grab. You could make a comparative statement about the US founding fathers (and since then the ruling elite) using the guise of "democracy" to gain popular support for their power grab/revolution.
You see FM, the debate is not that the definition of communism is fucked up, it's that the description of China as communist is wrong and has been from the beginning. You want to tell everyone that they are wrongly defining the term, I want to show why the term shouldn't be used.
I'm probably ten years older than you, so if I'm a kid does that make you a little baby? Fair enough, I have a binky for you right here...
