Toenails02
joined 1 year ago
People seem to think that China abandoned the socialist path since the reforms, which is invalid. They have been on the socialist path the entire time. Many factors show this. One is the Four Cardinal Principles that Deng Xiaoping had developed to ensure they stayed on the path of socialism. We must also consider that the economy's commanding heights are planned and are subjected to five-year plans. 70% of the top 500 companies are state-owned. 50% of the economy is in the socialist public sector and directly follows the plan (40% if you ignore the agricultural industry). 20 to 30% is inside the state capitalist sector, partially owned by domestic capitalists but run by the CPC or local workers' councils. The rest comprises the small bourgeois ownership like in the NEP. Due to the socialist nature of the economy, they have been able to lift over 800 million people out of extreme poverty, accounting for 75% of global poverty reduction. No country governed by capitalists could ever achieve such a feat. Such a feat can be accomplished only when the productive forces have been freed. Heres is a quote from Marx in the critique of the Gotha program which reaffirms China's position as a developing socialist country:
"What we have to deal with here is a communist society, not as it has developed on its own foundations, but, on the contrary, just as it emerges from capitalist society, which is thus in every respect, ECONOMICALLY, MORALLY, and INTECTUALLY, still stamped with the birthmarks of the old society from whose womb it emerges."
Workplace democracy in action in the CPC. The real wage (IE the wage adjusted for the prices you pay) has gone up 4x in the past 25 years, more than any other country. This is staggering, considering it's the most populous country on the planet. The US real wage by comparison is lower in 2019 than it was in 1973.
Basic healthcare is free in China. After the reforms, some mistakes were made, one being the privatisation of healthcare, which quickly reverted to free public basic healthcare. The workplace safety standards of China are better than in the capitalist countries of the West, like Australia, which has a higher rate of work-related death despite having a GDP per capita of 3-5 times higher.
At what cost? Think of the children China!
Take care, comrade. <3
Ben Norton is one of the best journalists out there