It just seems like what defines China at this point is far better described as authoritarianism than a label like communism or capitalism. Same goes with the US. I mean… at what point does it matter how power is legitimized in a system of governance if in practice the results are the elite owning and deciding everything?
If I am way off the mark, please feel free to educate me with some links to stuff I can read, I am not trying to force a point I am trying to work through these ideas myself!
I’d argue that authoritarianism is an orthogonal concept to communism. Authoritarianism relates to the amount of individual freedom that citizens enjoy, while communism deals largely with the way the economy is run. China’s economy is clearly serving public interest a lot better than US economy, and the public has far more influence over the direction of the country.
The claim that the elite owns and decides everything clearly doesn’t bear out when we look at China. If that was the case we’d expect to see a situation that’s closer to US or India where poverty runs rampant, there is no investment in public infrastructure, and no social services. None of these things benefit the elites in the slightest.
There are also some good resources on how the government works in China:
There is also an argument to be made that authoritarian style government is the only type that can stand up to western capitalist aggression. We’ve seen time and again more liberal socialist governments being destroyed in places like Chile and Brazil. Michael Parenti refers to this phenomenon as siege socialism here.
Great answer thank you!
It just seems like what defines China at this point is far better described as authoritarianism than a label like communism or capitalism. Same goes with the US. I mean… at what point does it matter how power is legitimized in a system of governance if in practice the results are the elite owning and deciding everything?
If I am way off the mark, please feel free to educate me with some links to stuff I can read, I am not trying to force a point I am trying to work through these ideas myself!
I’d argue that authoritarianism is an orthogonal concept to communism. Authoritarianism relates to the amount of individual freedom that citizens enjoy, while communism deals largely with the way the economy is run. China’s economy is clearly serving public interest a lot better than US economy, and the public has far more influence over the direction of the country.
The claim that the elite owns and decides everything clearly doesn’t bear out when we look at China. If that was the case we’d expect to see a situation that’s closer to US or India where poverty runs rampant, there is no investment in public infrastructure, and no social services. None of these things benefit the elites in the slightest.
There are also some good resources on how the government works in China:
Polls in China also indicate strong popular support for the government and policy it enacts:
There is also an argument to be made that authoritarian style government is the only type that can stand up to western capitalist aggression. We’ve seen time and again more liberal socialist governments being destroyed in places like Chile and Brazil. Michael Parenti refers to this phenomenon as siege socialism here.