Re: [Marxism] Learning about China from media accounts

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Walter wrote:
> I wondered what her gender, which was the article's hook, had to do
> with her accomplishment, and it seemed it had nothing whatsoever to
> do with it, however, one quite notable comment should draw everyone's
> interest since it contradicts the widely held conviction, among some
> Marxmailistas:
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> "The extent of China's reform, and its subsequent growth, is stunning.
> It is also true that Ms Zhang could not have made her money if China
> had not opened to the world. But nobody should believe that somehow
> her fortune means that China has made the full transition to capitalism."

Hutton is not talking about the mode of production, but the political 
system. He evidently views the CP monopoly on political power as 
antithetical to true capitalism:

"This remains a one-party state, in which every institution - from 
the media to its companies - is constructed to sustain its monopoly of power.

"Entrepreneurs such as Zhang Yin only succeed if they find ways 
around the system; they can only push the economy so far. One day the 
party will have to let go properly. The issues are only how and when."

However, the article continually refers to China as capitalist:

"It is capitalists such as her who are proof that paradoxically it is 
communist China that is home to the globe's most vigorous capitalism."

"Indigenous Chinese capitalism is a form of hit-and-run guerrilla 
economic warfare in a constant battle with the world's greediest and 
most corrupt officialdom. Survival depends upon paying tribute. It is 
no accident that two thirds of China's six million private businesses 
are owned and run by ex-communist officials. Almost every private 
businessperson in China is either a party member or applying to join."

With respect to Walter's advice that it is necessary to visit China 
to understand it, this is just another way of formulating his tired 
cliche about middle-class intellectuals in imperialist countries 
meddling in the affairs of 3rd world countries by writing a Marxist 
analysis. One supposes that it is only he who is entitled to opine 
from afar since he has draped himself in the Cuban flag. But the more 
I hear his pro-capitalist apologetics, the more I wonder if he has 
begun to reflect a "Chinese" tendency in Cuban politics.  Well, if 
Cuba has to face a Dengist challenge in the near future, I suppose it 
will be useful to have somebody articulating that viewpoint here.


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