OTOH, they do have strong fascistic elements in their system I think you're hitting on a key element with regard to Totalitarian regimes..
They may call themselves "Communists, Maoists, Marxists... etc, etc", but really what they are is a political mafia hiding behind the pretext of a utopian ideology.
If you want to get rich, you have to be a member of the party. And what the party giveth, the party can taketh away.
And I'm often made the argument that the CCP have migrated from Maoist/Communist into Fascism.
Same beast, just with different stripes..
In fact, we can actually start seeing the same thing taking root in the US, where crony capitalists are being made rich, SO LONG as they serve the interest of a certain political party and/or global elite.
It's like the riddle, "What's the difference between Capitalism and Communism?"
With Capitalism, Man exploits Man...
With Communism, it's the other way around... ;0)
Thing is, with China, they have this implicit "Mandate of Heaven" to rule within their culture. They tolerate an authoritarian/totalitarian rule, SO LONG as it meets the needs of the people.
Lose that mandate and thing will require some coercive adjustment.
I find the videos of the following Vloggers very informative on Chinese culture. They lived there for years and have traveled the entire country extensively, as well as speaking fluent Chinese.
You might want to check them out. They have some very astute observations..
youtube.com
youtube.com
Hawk |
