China has far, far more 2nd language speakers than the US does. Outside of Dongbei, it's a good bet that most over 50 speak Mandarin as a second language if at

China has far, far more 2nd language speakers than the US does. Outside of Dongbei, it's a good bet that most over 50 speak Mandarin as a second language if at all. A lack of capitalism held China back, not its writing system. A fair comparison would be India, also a large country that's very divided linguistically. Three decades ago, the average Indian was significantly wealthier than the average Chinese. Both countries put a strong focus on education and both have been trying hard to modernize. Now, China is far wealthier and has far higher literacy. Also, consider Taiwan and Hong Kong. Both went from being destitute to having higher per capita GDPs than Australia or many European states within the past generation or two. The idea that characters "hold" people back is ridiculous. Elementary school children here in Taiwan can read their native language as well if not better than their peers back in the states. It would take quite a bit of evidence to make a strong case against characters. Even MacArthur's misled experiment in Japan failed. Simplifications were forced through and kanji were reduced, but people never stopped using them. In fact, the Japanese have been using more kanji in general publication each decade since the end of the occupation. As for the statistics, here they are: CIA World Factbook https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ China- literacy 90.9%, PPP GDP/person $6,100 Brazil- literacy 88.6% PPP GDP/person $10,300 India- literacy 61% PPP GDP/person $2,900 Unicef gives similar rates.