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Is the philosophy of Communist China to advance a harmonious society by letting individual’s “interests, left to themselves, tend to harmonious combinations”?

• dr_dshiv 5y ago
  > Bastiat claims that liberty leads to harmony and those seeking the latter should embrace the former! Precisely!
  • kgwgk 5y ago
    Ok, the philosophy of every political movement is close then. All talk about doing what is best for the people. (And, if anything, this connects the philosophy of Communist China to the philosophy of capitalism. Mao was born well after Bastiat’s death.)
    • dr_dshiv 5y ago
      Well, it is actually the connection between Classical Chinese philosophy (Confucius & Lao Tse) and Classical Western philosophy (Pythagoras and Plato). That’s where the idea of harmony came from, for the Chinese govt and Bastiat, respectively.
      • kgwgk 5y ago
        I find that the CPC’s idea the of social harmony seems closer to the Western pre-determined / dialectic conception and the liberal idea closer to the emergent / diversity view of the Eastern tradition.
        • dr_dshiv 5y ago
          That would be a further fascinating twist. I’ve spent a lot of time investigating both systems; in so far as musical harmony is the core metaphor, they both seem to resolve together. But I agree that the eastern system emphasizes diversity more (at least in the classical period). Heraclitus said “out of discord comes the fairest harmony”, which is suggestive how economic competition produces economic harmony.