A forgotten cornerIN THE 1960s Mao Zedong decried the “phoney communism” of Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader who had supposedly defamed socialism by “completely negating” Stalin. To avoid such apostasy, Mao wrote, China had to train successors who would “continue to march along the correct road laid down by Marxism-Leninism.” This, he argued, was vital for ensuring that China and its Communist Party would sustain their ideology “for a hundred, a thousand, nay ten thousand years”.
China has another eight years to go before it matches the record set by the Soviets for keeping a Communist Party in power (74 years). But its colour has long since changed. The political system remains Leninist, but there are few vestiges of Marxism in the country’s economic policies. Workers’ rights are often ignored. “Vanguard”, the term so beloved of Marxists when describing the party’s position, is now the (English) name of a Chinese supermarket chain. Class distinctions are sharpening; the better-off enjoy speculating on property and flipping stocks like true capitalists.
The party frets...Continue reading
Source: China http://ift.tt/1NetORp
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