this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2026
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As usual I'd love for the down voters to comment instead of being cowards.
I'll bite.
China is not communist. But we should talk about different economic systems because that's the ultimate goal.
Communism in itself is a true ideal as long as output exceeds intake and satisfaction is high. It's also possible on a global scale, if not designed for it.
Capitalism is also a true ideal as long as it's built on an immovable foundation of human rights paid for by centralized non profit corporations.
The issue has nothing to do with the ideas themselves. The issue is and always has been the concentration of power.
It is the ideas of the few which can never properly represent the masses. Even with the best intentions. The only true ideal for power is that there is none except when handled by all. The US Constitution seemed to have this idea in mind with its intent, though it's evolved into the same old concentration of power over time. Doesn't matter which party either. The reality is power is so concentrated now that there are no true parties anymore. This is a mafia that transcends both sides.
So no China is no proof of anything except improper concentration of power. Mostly capitalist by the way. And totally tyrannical in their wielding of power against free thought, sex, religion, etc. It's practically anti freedom and contradicts every protected class we have in the US.
Does anyone have the statistics on how many abortion occur there? Even if you're pro choice, the piles of discarded fetuses could reach skyscraper height. This is not a normal issue to have. How many illiterate? How many old people died while they were bolted inside their homes during COVID?
If the question is what system would you be willing to put your life in the hands of, there is only one answer: which one has the most distributed power and wealth above the rest.
This is entirely vibes-based. Capitalism, socialism, and communism are modes of production and distribution, not ideals or ideas. Capitalism is characterized by private ownership as the principle aspect of the economy and the working classes in charge of the state, socialism is public ownership as the principle aspect and the working classes in charge of the state, and communism is a post-socialist mode of production where all production and distribution has been collectivized.
China is a socialist country governed by a communist party. Public ownership is the principle aspect of its economy, and the working classes control the state. The Chinese political system is based on whole-process people's democracy, a form of consultative democracy. The local government is directly elected, and then these governments elect people to higher rungs, meaning any candidate at the top level must have worked their way up from the bottom and directly proved themselves. Moreover, the economy in the PRC is socialist, with public ownership as the principle aspect of the economy. Combining this consultative, ground-up democracy with top-down economic planning is the key to China's success.
I highly recommend Roland Boer's Socialism in Power: On the History and Theory of Socialist Governance. Socialist democracy has been imperfect, but has gone through a number of changes and adaptations over the years as we've learned more from testing theory to practice. Boer goes over the history behind socialist democracy in this textbook.
The US Constitution was written to protect slave owners, capitalists, and landlords. It is not written to protect the many. China, on the other hand, puts the working classes first and manages to use this system to uplift the working classes year over year.
An excellent and very clear answer comrade, but don't you have any book recommendations that are more on the commenter's level? Roland Boer is great but it takes a pretty advanced level of political econ and history knowledge to grasp. Do you know of any simpler books on the subject? Or would you recommend just listening to Hasan Piker to someone at that stage of the journey?
Not cowbee but, at this commenters level the most on his level suggestion I can think of after reading his comments is that he should try hit himself in the head with a brick repeatedly until he forgets everything he knows and start over.
Oh come on!
(You had me in the first half ngl)
Roland Boer's work is useful because it's meticulously well-researched and sourced. Unfortunatley, for someone actively hostile to the idea of democracy in China, simple works are easily tossed aside as "propaganda."