The dynamics of the CCP are really fascinating and widely misunderstood. Mostly for political reasons people I’m the west these days try and portray Xi as someone with absolute power but that really isn’t the case. Not to say that it’s a democracy or anything.
He was supposed to be limited to 2 terms as general secretary, the only person to break that tradition was Mao.
His anti-corruptiom prosecutions also happened to be anti-rival prosecutions.
He does have absolute power, sort of, there is just no direct path to remove or bypass him. It’s like we have no direct path to become president without winning an election, though we do have indirect paths that should never happen save for exceptional circumstances.
He’s more autocratic than recent Chinese leaders, but, at least looking from the outside, he doesn’t seem to be fostering the kind of generalized fear environment needed for total control, like Stalin or Hitler did. The level of public dissent that’s allowed at least still seems to be in line with the garden variety authoritarian dictatorship and not with a totalitarian one.
As Mel Brooks said, “Rhetoric does not get you anywhere, because Hitler and Mussolini are just as good at rhetoric. But if you can bring these people down with comedy, they stand no chance.”
This means that smart dictators can address most criticism by a mix of rhetoric and half truths, but handling mockery is much harder for them. So it’s not that surprising that a dictatorship might crack down on forms of humor that damage the image they want to build of its leaders even if they allow some level of opposition.
He hasn’t had a cultural revolution, totally agree.
But it’s also clear his path has been to ensure control of HK, TW and other “properties” of china to keep his domestic populace happy, while ensuring safe loyalty via all-encompassing electronic surveillance.
He’s smart enough that he doesn’t have to be hitler/Stalin, but you’re right he’s not them.
Might be a good thing in the end. There is a way to remove him, he will go sooner or later, everyone dies eventually, not even the most powerful dictator can get around that.
What we do know is that he has stuffed up his country for his own personal gain. Killed off so many jobs because Jack Ma and co was getting too powerful. These are high value tech sector jobs that the now unemployed youths would have been happy to be employed as.
He has put in alot of money into state owned enterprises which doesn’t have as much output as more pseudo private companies. Causing higher unemployment.
Zero covid lockdown that was a big cause of this economic situation well it was Xis policy and noone could tell him it wasn’t a good idea until it was too little too late.
Again as I say he has stuffed his country up for his personal gain which wouldn’t even matter in a few decades time once he passes away. But the damage to his country will be lasting and affect future generations (not that he will care, it doesn’t affect him).
Imagine the alternative in which we have a competent dictator. We may all be conquered and have to live under their political model. That’s a hard no from me.
So my biggest fear for more than a decade was a Sino-Russian alliance, China’s tech, manpower and … grinding ambition combined with Russia’s infinite resources.
Thankfully Xi, and his overwhelming greed, managed to neutralize most of that, while driving away most of his most competent administrators in favor of political hacks.
That being said, the US needs to get their stuff together too, Biden is doing fine parrying Russia in Europe and China in Asia, but there’s a whole new theater opening up in Africa and South America that is completely vulnerable and we are not attending at all. We look like we might be outflanked there.
Yeah I was interested to learn that there is a cadre of retired CCP “elders” who have enough gravitas to reprimand the president. But I believe it. Xi is not the whole CCP. And Chinese culture has a lot of reverence for elders in it.
The dynamics of the CCP are really fascinating and widely misunderstood. Mostly for political reasons people I’m the west these days try and portray Xi as someone with absolute power but that really isn’t the case. Not to say that it’s a democracy or anything.
He was supposed to be limited to 2 terms as general secretary, the only person to break that tradition was Mao.
His anti-corruptiom prosecutions also happened to be anti-rival prosecutions.
He does have absolute power, sort of, there is just no direct path to remove or bypass him. It’s like we have no direct path to become president without winning an election, though we do have indirect paths that should never happen save for exceptional circumstances.
He’s more autocratic than recent Chinese leaders, but, at least looking from the outside, he doesn’t seem to be fostering the kind of generalized fear environment needed for total control, like Stalin or Hitler did. The level of public dissent that’s allowed at least still seems to be in line with the garden variety authoritarian dictatorship and not with a totalitarian one.
Make fun of him online and it’s straight to prison.
As Mel Brooks said, “Rhetoric does not get you anywhere, because Hitler and Mussolini are just as good at rhetoric. But if you can bring these people down with comedy, they stand no chance.”
This means that smart dictators can address most criticism by a mix of rhetoric and half truths, but handling mockery is much harder for them. So it’s not that surprising that a dictatorship might crack down on forms of humor that damage the image they want to build of its leaders even if they allow some level of opposition.
He hasn’t had a cultural revolution, totally agree.
But it’s also clear his path has been to ensure control of HK, TW and other “properties” of china to keep his domestic populace happy, while ensuring safe loyalty via all-encompassing electronic surveillance.
He’s smart enough that he doesn’t have to be hitler/Stalin, but you’re right he’s not them.
People literally won’t talk about Tienanmen in public because of the consequences. That’s real fear.
Might be a good thing in the end. There is a way to remove him, he will go sooner or later, everyone dies eventually, not even the most powerful dictator can get around that.
What we do know is that he has stuffed up his country for his own personal gain. Killed off so many jobs because Jack Ma and co was getting too powerful. These are high value tech sector jobs that the now unemployed youths would have been happy to be employed as.
He has put in alot of money into state owned enterprises which doesn’t have as much output as more pseudo private companies. Causing higher unemployment.
Zero covid lockdown that was a big cause of this economic situation well it was Xis policy and noone could tell him it wasn’t a good idea until it was too little too late.
Again as I say he has stuffed his country up for his personal gain which wouldn’t even matter in a few decades time once he passes away. But the damage to his country will be lasting and affect future generations (not that he will care, it doesn’t affect him).
Imagine the alternative in which we have a competent dictator. We may all be conquered and have to live under their political model. That’s a hard no from me.
So my biggest fear for more than a decade was a Sino-Russian alliance, China’s tech, manpower and … grinding ambition combined with Russia’s infinite resources.
Thankfully Xi, and his overwhelming greed, managed to neutralize most of that, while driving away most of his most competent administrators in favor of political hacks.
That being said, the US needs to get their stuff together too, Biden is doing fine parrying Russia in Europe and China in Asia, but there’s a whole new theater opening up in Africa and South America that is completely vulnerable and we are not attending at all. We look like we might be outflanked there.
Yeah I was interested to learn that there is a cadre of retired CCP “elders” who have enough gravitas to reprimand the president. But I believe it. Xi is not the whole CCP. And Chinese culture has a lot of reverence for elders in it.