Thread replies: 3
Thread images: 2
Thread images: 2
File: 320px-Flag_of_China.png (6KB, 320x213px)
6KB, 320x213px
Why do some people consider the PRC to be capitalist? Is it because the Chinese use capitalist methods to grow their economy? If that is the sole basis of their argument, then it is clear these people haven't the slightest understanding of Marxist theory.
Karl Marx himself said this of the bourgeoisie and capitalism in The Communist Manifesto: "The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his 'natural superiors,' and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, callous 'cash payment.'"
In other words, Marx saw capitalism as a progressive historical stage that liberated the forces of production kept dormant by feudalism but would eventually stagnate due to internal contradictions and be followed by socialism.
Like many other countries where communist parties rule or have ruled, China was a semi-feudal, semi-colonial country prior to the establishment of the PRC. If we are to take Marxism as a social science, then capitalism must follow feudalism as a matter of scientific fact, much like a human child must go through adolescence prior to becoming an adult. Therefore, one could argue that the Chinese are the most successful practitioners of Marxism precisely because they understand Marxism theory better than any other country under communist party rule. In essence, they understand that you can't create a successful socialist state by leapfrogging capitalism (which as explained above is necessary to dissolve feudal bonds and liberate productive capacity). One could also argue that the failure of most other communist countries also stems from insufficient development of the capitalist stage in those countries.
>>
Therefore, the Chinese are simply completing a necessary stage of economic development that they never historically experienced. But unlike the truly capitalist US, the PRC does not claim capitalism as the "end of history" (as one American historian put it at the end of the Cold War). Quite the contrary, the PRC has always maintained that in accordance to Marxist theory, capitalism is but a transitive stage leading to socialism. Whether the capitalist stage lasts several decades, several centuries, or several millennia, nobody knows (the Chinese themselves admit this).
A murderer cutting into his victim with a knife is completely different from a surgeon cutting into his patient with a scalpel because the end goal of the act of cutting is completely different. However, if one solely focuses on the act of cutting, then both the actions of the murderer and the surgeon would look similar. Likewise, the practice of capitalism in order to perpetuate worker exploitation is different than the practice of capitalism in preparation for the implementation of socialism though they might look similar if one focuses exclusively on the acts and not the goals.
>>
File: McCommie.jpg (718KB, 2272x1704px) Image search:
[Google]
718KB, 2272x1704px
>>136512148
Thread posts: 3
Thread images: 2
Thread images: 2