Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Charlottesville, VA, USA. more »
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9 replies on “Google aids communism.”
Disappointing, yes. Communist, no. China is basically moving toward a free market with tight controls on free speech and these days seems more fascist than communist. How the times change.
A dictatorship by any other name…
I really don’t know what the term is for China is now. They’re still communist in many ways but with a weird free-market hybrid fascist thing going on. No matter what you call ’em, they’re trouble to us.
I can’t resist telling this story.
I was in China two summers ago and went to see Mao’s embalmed body. They keep him in a magnificent mosoleum in Tianamen Square and march the viewers by in complete silence like a funeral procession – a real tribute to communism.
But – the minute you exit the mosoleum you’re immediately confronted by a mob of Chinese hawking all sorts of Mao paraphernilia. Mao shirts, Mao watches (I bought one), Mao snowglobes, Mao neckties, Mao everything.
I think it perfectly summed up the state of modern China.
I almost forgot – my favorite Mao item was a snowglobe of the Great Leader except instead of snow they had replicas of american coinage that would cascade upon him when you shoot it!
shook it
CNN’s Moneyline a week or so ago had a similar story about Microsoft. The Chinese government asked Microsoft to shut down a Blog it hosted which belonged to a chinese citizen that had posted critical comments about the chinese government. Microsoft complied and the Blog was shut down. The pertinent question asked was, “at what point should trade take a back seat to the U.S. values (bill of rights etc) which allowed these companies to prosper.” Maybe that’s not it exactly but you get the idea.
The fact is that any company that’s doing business in China has agreed to the restrictions the Chinese government has placed on them.
The dangerous thing about China is that they’ve found away to take advantage of capitalism without allowing it to chip away at the totalitarian control they have over their people.
Duane Gran wrote:
China is basically moving toward a free market with tight controls on free speech and these days seems more fascist than communist.
China is essentially a Stalinist Dictatorship, that’s all communism has ever really been. It’s basically just hybrid of fascism replacing the nationalism and racism normally associated with fascism, with the trappings of Communism.
I would love someday to discuss communism without it degenerating into a discussion about stalinism, but evidently it is still too much in our consciousness to separate the two. How unfortunate. Regardless, one can hardly claim that China is communist when they permit walmart stores in their cities and make nary an objection to walmarts zero union policy. The increasingly anti-labor sentiment of China is far more indicative of a fascist regime than a stalinist dictatorship, but as Josh points out, these are just name games.
Duane Gran wrote:
would love someday to discuss communism without it degenerating into a discussion about stalinism, but evidently it is still too much in our consciousness to separate the two. How unfortunate.
I never realized it was such a heated subject.
In my mind there’s never really been a signifigant difference between what’s been called “communisim” as many countries practice/d it (china included) and “fascism.”
From dictionary.com:
Fascism – n. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
Edit out the “and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.” and the remaining definition, in my mind, fits the way communism has been practiced in most countries that adopted the system of government.
Disappointing, yes. Communist, no. China is basically moving toward a free market with tight controls on free speech and these days seems more fascist than communist. How the times change.
A dictatorship by any other name…
I really don’t know what the term is for China is now. They’re still communist in many ways but with a weird free-market hybrid fascist thing going on. No matter what you call ’em, they’re trouble to us.
I can’t resist telling this story.
I was in China two summers ago and went to see Mao’s embalmed body. They keep him in a magnificent mosoleum in Tianamen Square and march the viewers by in complete silence like a funeral procession – a real tribute to communism.
But – the minute you exit the mosoleum you’re immediately confronted by a mob of Chinese hawking all sorts of Mao paraphernilia. Mao shirts, Mao watches (I bought one), Mao snowglobes, Mao neckties, Mao everything.
I think it perfectly summed up the state of modern China.
I almost forgot – my favorite Mao item was a snowglobe of the Great Leader except instead of snow they had replicas of american coinage that would cascade upon him when you shoot it!
shook it
CNN’s Moneyline a week or so ago had a similar story about Microsoft. The Chinese government asked Microsoft to shut down a Blog it hosted which belonged to a chinese citizen that had posted critical comments about the chinese government. Microsoft complied and the Blog was shut down. The pertinent question asked was, “at what point should trade take a back seat to the U.S. values (bill of rights etc) which allowed these companies to prosper.” Maybe that’s not it exactly but you get the idea.
The fact is that any company that’s doing business in China has agreed to the restrictions the Chinese government has placed on them.
The dangerous thing about China is that they’ve found away to take advantage of capitalism without allowing it to chip away at the totalitarian control they have over their people.
Duane Gran wrote:
China is essentially a Stalinist Dictatorship, that’s all communism has ever really been. It’s basically just hybrid of fascism replacing the nationalism and racism normally associated with fascism, with the trappings of Communism.
I would love someday to discuss communism without it degenerating into a discussion about stalinism, but evidently it is still too much in our consciousness to separate the two. How unfortunate. Regardless, one can hardly claim that China is communist when they permit walmart stores in their cities and make nary an objection to walmarts zero union policy. The increasingly anti-labor sentiment of China is far more indicative of a fascist regime than a stalinist dictatorship, but as Josh points out, these are just name games.
Duane Gran wrote:
I never realized it was such a heated subject.
In my mind there’s never really been a signifigant difference between what’s been called “communisim” as many countries practice/d it (china included) and “fascism.”
From dictionary.com:
Edit out the “and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.” and the remaining definition, in my mind, fits the way communism has been practiced in most countries that adopted the system of government.