The East Is Red
I love china. Besides producing some of the world’s most attractive women, this nation has accomplished something else that makes me very happy. China has proven that democracy is irrelevant. Every day I waste time at work reading news articles from right wing ideologues who get hard-ons whenever they write words like, freedom, or liberty, or moral values. Even the guys on the left like nothing more than to trumpet the triumph of democracy over every other form of government. Well China is the most effective counterargument to these assertions. China, the nation, is a big fuck you to every pompous American news columnist.
Perhaps a little history will be useful here. Back when Gorbachev became head of the Soviet Union, he decided to institute two radical new policies. The first, called Perestroika, would open the Soviet economy and move it further away from the centrally planned communist system. The second, called Glasnost, would open the Soviet society, and allow such rights and freedom of speech and of the press. China was in some turmoil around this time too. I suppose the centrally planned peasant economy of chairman Mao was showing weaknesses and not going very well. The Chinese looked to their former communist brothers hoping to draw some lessons from their policies. Well, the Soviet’s new experiment in openness didn’t go over too well. It turned out that Russian wanted Levis jeans and Coca Cola more than submarines and ICBMs, and they were willing to take to the streets demanding the rights and privileges enjoyed in the West. They protested in Red Square while the Soviet tanks stood there waiting for orders. The Chinese faced had faced a similar situation in Tianamen Square, except they happily gave orders that Brezhnev or Stalin would have given. They crushed the protest and vowed to punish any opposition. At the same time, they proceeded to open their economy to foreign investment and capitalism. Today, China is set to become the world’s second most productive nation in a few years, albeit while acting as the world’s sweat shop.
The Chinese economy, with it’s small ruling elite and masses of impoverished poor are the new alternative to Western liberal capitalist democracy. Personally, I think that their system is going to win in this century.
Perhaps a little history will be useful here. Back when Gorbachev became head of the Soviet Union, he decided to institute two radical new policies. The first, called Perestroika, would open the Soviet economy and move it further away from the centrally planned communist system. The second, called Glasnost, would open the Soviet society, and allow such rights and freedom of speech and of the press. China was in some turmoil around this time too. I suppose the centrally planned peasant economy of chairman Mao was showing weaknesses and not going very well. The Chinese looked to their former communist brothers hoping to draw some lessons from their policies. Well, the Soviet’s new experiment in openness didn’t go over too well. It turned out that Russian wanted Levis jeans and Coca Cola more than submarines and ICBMs, and they were willing to take to the streets demanding the rights and privileges enjoyed in the West. They protested in Red Square while the Soviet tanks stood there waiting for orders. The Chinese faced had faced a similar situation in Tianamen Square, except they happily gave orders that Brezhnev or Stalin would have given. They crushed the protest and vowed to punish any opposition. At the same time, they proceeded to open their economy to foreign investment and capitalism. Today, China is set to become the world’s second most productive nation in a few years, albeit while acting as the world’s sweat shop.
The Chinese economy, with it’s small ruling elite and masses of impoverished poor are the new alternative to Western liberal capitalist democracy. Personally, I think that their system is going to win in this century.
posted by Furtive Surf at 1:53 AM
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