Written by Frank Li
In two previous posts, I described the American Revolution (What Is the American Revolution, Anyway?) and the Chinese Communist Revolution (What Is the Chinese Communist Revolution, Anyway?), respectively.
In this post, I will compare them, fundamentally, with some basic explanations.
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1. Explanation with Marxism
To me, the difference between the American Revolution and the Chinese Communist Revolution can be best explained by Marxist theory: the former was a bourgeois revolution, while the latter a proletarian revolution.
2. What is a bourgeois revolution?
Below is an excerpt from Wikipedia – Bourgeois revolution.
Bourgeois revolution is a term used in Marxist theory to refer to a social revolution that aims to destroy a feudal system or its vestiges, establish the rule of the bourgeoisie, and create a bourgeois state.[1] In colonised or subjugated countries, bourgeois revolutions often take the form of a war of national independence. The English, French, and American revolutions are considered the archetypal bourgeois revolutions, in that they attempted to clear away the remnants of the medieval feudal system, so as to pave the way for the rise of capitalism.[1] The term is usually used in contrast to “proletarian revolution“, and is also sometimes called a “bourgeois-democratic revolution“.
Here is my simple definition: a bourgeois revolution is by/of/for the rich.
3. What is a proletarian revolution?
Below is an excerpt from Wikipedia – Proletarian revolution.
A proletarian revolution is a social revolution in which the working class attempts to overthrow the bourgeoisie. Proletarian revolutions are generally advocated by socialists, communists and most anarchists.
Marxists believe proletarian revolutions can and will likely happen in all capitalist countries, related to the concept of world revolution.
Here is my simple definition: a proletarian revolution is by/of/for the poor.
4. Why Marxism (vs. Adam Smith)?
Karl Marx is very popular in China, even more so than Adam Smith is in the West. More importantly, Karl Marx not only was more recent than Adam Smith, which means he developed his works on top of Smith’s works, but also has proven to be more correct than Adam Smith, on capitalism at least, communism notwithstanding.
Two informative readings:
5. Discussion
The American Revolution was of/by/for the rich. America remains so today, despite all the changes over the past 200 years.
The Chinese Communist Revolution was of/by/for the poor. However, over the past few decades, China has fundamentally transformed itself to become a country of/by/for the people: rich and poor!
Let me elaborate on each …
5.1 China
Let me explain in American terms …
At the end of WWII, China was controlled by two major parties (like America today):
- The Kuomintang (aka “Nationalist Party of China”). View it as the [pre-Trump] Republican Party, representing the rich, presumably.
- The CPC (Communist Party of China). View it as the Democratic Party, representing the poor, presumably.
The two parties fought for control of China via a civil war. The CPC motivated the poor with a promise that “you can become rich instantly by moving into Bill Gates’s mansion, if we win.” So, the poor fought hard, the CPC won the war, and 10 poor families moved into Gates’s mansion (the Gates family escaped to Taiwan, carrying what they could, or he would have been executed).
The 10 families thoroughly enjoyed Gates’s mansion for a few years, without doing much maintenance, though.
Worse yet, they did not know what to do with Gates’s empire (e.g. his work on healthcare and his Microsoft stocks)!
Worst of all, they simply did not know how to produce any new wealth, with or without inheritance from Gates!
The same thing happened throughout China for one generation (i.e. 25-30 years). As a result, after all the “inherited” wealth was consumed, everybody in China became a proletarian.
In short, most of the proletarians had good intentions to “make China great again”, such as justice for all, but they simply did not know how!
Enter Deng Xiaoping … He embraced capitalism without abandoning the government by/of/for the poor!
Two net results:
- Over the past few decades, China produced numerous billionaires like Bill Gates (e.g. Jack Ma and Robin Li), without letting them have much influence at the top level (i.e. Politburo), though.
- The government changed from by/of/for the poor to by/of/for all (i.e. rich and poor)!
Two informative readings:
Bottom line: Communism is terrible, but China is no longer communist per se. The best description of China today is state capitalism. The challenging question for America (as well as the world) is this: can state capitalism be realized in America without a proletarian revolution first?
5.2 America
The American Revolution was of/by/for the rich! For more, read: What Is the American Revolution, Anyway (Version 3)?
Moreover, despite all the changes over the past 200 years, including the American Civil War and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, America remains a country of/by/for the rich, without meeting any of the big challenges (e.g. governance, race, and religion), which have been accompanying mankind over the past 2,000 years, at least. For more, read: The U.S. vs. China: A Great Experiment vs. A Great Civilization!
Worse yet, America has morphed itself into a democracy, in danger of losing the last safe-guard against it: the Electoral College. For more, read: Warren calls for eliminating the Electoral College.
As a result, America does not even have a working government today, and three recent events (i.e. COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Killing of George Floyd, and Jacob Blake no longer handcuffed to his hospital bed) have made it abundantly clear!
Bottom line: Democracy is a proven failure throughout history without a single example of lasting success (by Chinese standards, at least). Yet, America not only is becoming more and more democratic, but also may already be more communistic than China in many ways, with the public-sector unions being one of the worst examples. The challenging question for the world is this: can America ever truly become a country of/by/for the people (i.e. rich and poor), without destroying itself first with a proletarian revolution?
5.3 America vs. China
The 20th century was clearly America’s. The 21st century will most likely belong to either China or America. But which country will likely claim it, ultimately?
China!
Why is that?
Governance is everything, and America is behind China in governance by some 2,000 years!
In other words, good governance (like China has) is much harder to achieve and more valuable than being practically governance-less while producing a bunch of billionaires (like America has)!
Two informative readings:
6. Chairman Mao and Richard Nixon
Here is a rumored dialog between Chairman Mao and Richard Nixon in 1972:
- Mao: “Aren’t you worried about a revolution, as guns are so widely available over there?”
- Nixon: “No! Revolutions are not caused by guns, but by the smart people at the bottom. The American system allows the smart people to move up. So, there will be no revolution in America.”
Nixon seemed right at that time, but time has proven the following:
- Mao’s instinct was incisive, totally! For Mao, a brilliant military leader, if people have access to guns, he can surely lead them to success. For more, read: Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.
- Nixon’s comment that “the American system allows the smart people to move up” was only partially correct. It has turned out that China actually has a better meritocracy system not only for the society, but also for its political system. For more, read: The U.S. vs. China: Meritocracy.
7. Summary
Here is a simple analogy to help my fellow Americans better understand the CPC (Communist Party of China):
- The CPC under Mao (1949 – 1976) is like the Democratic Party, with only the extreme left though. Hell!
- The CPC post-Mao (1978 – present) is like the [pre-Trump] Republican Party, without the extreme right though. Heaven? Not really, but it’s surely far better than hell!
America, reform our failing political system, as I have suggested (American Democracy – Why is it failing & how to fix it?), or become a fiddle, second to China!
8. Closing
To best understand the present and foresee the future, we must study the past.
To best understand today’s China and America, we must understand them from their births. This post has helped a little bit, hopefully.
Now, please sit back to enjoy the video below, to better understand where the US-China relations are standing …
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