>> We believe, and argue in this book, that this
celebration of China is a serious mistake, one that reflects a misunderstanding
not only of the Chinese experience but also of the dynamics and contradictions
of capitalism as an international system. In fact, an examination of the effects
of China's economic transformation on the region's other economies makes clear
that the country's growth is intensifying competitive pressures and crisis
tendencies to the detriment of workers throughout the region, including in
China.
Comment
I take exception in strenuous terms because the first Chinese
experience and the continuing Chinese experience is to be from up under the foot
of imperial colonialism and then to win back Hong Kong and extend state
jurisdiction to Taiwan. This is not understood by the revolutionaries
speaking from amongst the most imperial peoples, that have carved their living
standards from the backs of the colored masses of the people of earth.
Yes, I am going to go there. Why should I not?
China today, in its very real bourgeois capitalist dimensions
is to be forever celebrated - for all times in history to come, because the
Chinese peoples rule themselves today, and the modern Chinese Revolution, dating
back to 1821 was a long drawn out historical process of freeing themselves from
who?
I am acutely aware of events in China and they do not outweigh
being free from the likes of the states in which the imperial revolutionaries
reside. My own aspiration for freedom, as a member of a historically
evolved people, comes before all and this is not even discussable.
But then again, I come from slaves and see the world forever
different, and will never love my former slave masters or have one ounce
of loyalty for those who ensure my degradation. The Chinese feel similar in
respects to their colonial past. That is the experience, which is being lived
today and to forget this means denying oneself the opportunity to navigate
through the complex of class battles underway in Peoples China.
To blame China, - "China;s economy," - not the value
relations for the intensifying pressure and competition amongst the workers
in that region is tragic . . . a most bitter pill to swallow for one such as I,
but it is not uncommon for some so-called Marxist to forget that there is a
distinction between China and that, which is Chinese and economic logic. Here is
what is being said. Economic pressures on the workers in that region would still
have intensified, probably more if China was fully state socialism, not less.
Why? Because of the restriction of the commodity market and a greater need for
rationalization of production in a restricted market.
For me the above is just so much bourgeois chauvinism parading
as insight. But . . . wait a minute . . . what about the constriction of the
financial markets without the new outlets in China?
I am not arguing for a capitalist China but saying that the
above is flat out national and white chauvinism. I am saying that a socialist
China would restrict the value system and intensify the competition between the
regions workers more than a capitalist China from every point of view.
Melvin P.
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