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But China is not communist and doesn't have a command economy. My high school book had a very good cartoon comparing Chinese old and new communism: 1. Mao's r

But China is not communist and doesn't have a command economy. My high school book had a very good cartoon comparing Chinese old and new communism: 1. Mao's red communist handkerchief 2. Hu Jintao (previous president of China)'s capitalistic red tie. Not to mention China doesn't spend anywhere near their % of GDP compared to the Soviet Union.

tomohawk 7y ago
Isn't that a 'red' herring? The CCP is solidly in command of China, and no other parties are allowed.
- danaris 7y ago
  That's authoritarianism, not communism. They can call themselves a "communist" party all they want; it doesn't make it true any more than the "Democratic People's Republic of [North] Korea" is actually democratic.
  - baryphonic 7y ago
    I seem to recall in the Marxist-Leninist schema that the contradictions of capitalism lead the workers to seize power through violent revolution and create a "dictatorship of the proletariat" that brings about socialism. Socialism itself is supposed to also collapse under its own contradictions and being about communism, a sort of anarcho-syndicalist utopia. So, in a sense, you're right that "communist" is a misnomer (at least under the Marxist-Leninist scheme, which is clearly what the CCP is trying to emulate). However, it's hard to imagine a more apt description for the CCP and other far-left Marxist parties worldwide than "dictatorship of the proletariat."
    - enitihas 7y ago
      What proletariat? High level CCP officials are very rich. Example :- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wen_Jiabao https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wen_Jiabao (previous Prime Minister of China) There is no dictatorship of the proletariat. It is a dictatorship of the CCP. The CCP is not trying to emulate anything resembling Marxist-Leninist, or atleast there is no evidence for anything such. Here is a fun article connecting the CCP and communism (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/world/asia/china-maoists-xi-protests.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/world/asia/china-maoists-...)

tomohawk 7y ago

Isn't that a 'red' herring? The CCP is solidly in command of China, and no other parties are allowed.

danaris 7y ago
That's authoritarianism, not communism. They can call themselves a "communist" party all they want; it doesn't make it true any more than the "Democratic People's Republic of [North] Korea" is actually democratic.
- baryphonic 7y ago
  I seem to recall in the Marxist-Leninist schema that the contradictions of capitalism lead the workers to seize power through violent revolution and create a "dictatorship of the proletariat" that brings about socialism. Socialism itself is supposed to also collapse under its own contradictions and being about communism, a sort of anarcho-syndicalist utopia. So, in a sense, you're right that "communist" is a misnomer (at least under the Marxist-Leninist scheme, which is clearly what the CCP is trying to emulate). However, it's hard to imagine a more apt description for the CCP and other far-left Marxist parties worldwide than "dictatorship of the proletariat."
  - enitihas 7y ago
    What proletariat? High level CCP officials are very rich. Example :- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wen_Jiabao https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wen_Jiabao (previous Prime Minister of China) There is no dictatorship of the proletariat. It is a dictatorship of the CCP. The CCP is not trying to emulate anything resembling Marxist-Leninist, or atleast there is no evidence for anything such. Here is a fun article connecting the CCP and communism (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/world/asia/china-maoists-xi-protests.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/world/asia/china-maoists-...)