Not do everything like they do of course, but the gist of their policies would apply well to the imperial core. A nationalized and coop market economy that essentially beats capitalists at their own game. Policies of internal auditing and promotion through merit, not (necessarily) elections or
People in the imperial core are used to a certain way of life. The poorest, the marginalised, represent a minority that is mostly turning to the social-democrats.
I can’t see myself convincing the middle-class with Marxist arguments. The exploitation of labour, the killing of the planet… it doesn’t work enough. They realize this but they have an apathy towards it. It’s not enough to make them want to organise and reform the system – not even revolt yet!
They cling onto the dream of opening their own business one day and having private property (or even excessive personal property). They know politicians are corrupt, but don’t see the power they have in changing this.
But we have a working example in China. And that is why horrible, shameless accusations are now being thrown at them. If you start with “I like the Chinese model…”, people will see you as a radical terrorist. The propaganda has certainly worked.
Reading up on the premises of the October Revolution, the conditions were right in Russia for people to move to the Bolsheviks because they were the ones offering the actual solutions. Here, people are used to a certain quality of life. It is certainly destructive but I believe continuing the destruction for some time is better than continuing it indefinitely. In any case, we need to offer them solutions that will actually liberate them. In the Chinese model, they would see their wages double every decade (when was the last time they got a minimal raise?). They would see politicians and business owners being held accountable and forced to work for the benefit of society, not their own.
I am also partial to a cultural revolution; not necessarily exactly how the CPC did it (to which I believe there are criticisms to be made), but the concept I am not against. It is important to remove these remnants of neo-colonialism in people (like the recent petition to put Libya under French mandate…) and, at the very least, teach a revolutionary curriculum in schools.
But instead of focusing on dispelling these myths (which needs to happen too), I would rather focus on presenting the Chinese system and explaining how we could have this as well. But the two certainly go hand in hand.
In regards to actual policies, I believe the Chinese model is able to respond to the needs of this imperial middle class while moving towards socialism. It’s a realistic model because it exists; the problem I most run into when discussing socialism is that they can’t imagine it. “How will you pay for all this?” “But everyone thinks their plan will work”. The other problem as I mentioned is that China is not enjoying a good reputation in the imperial world, as designed.
Is there anything I’m not seeing or considering?
I feel sort of the opposite.
The US is the most powerful imperial country on Earth, its the literal belly of the beast. The amount of capital at its disposal is immense. It wouldn’t make much sense to do a “tactical retreat” as the PRC had to as the productive forces in the country are nowhere near the level they were post-revolution for China. There’s no need to build it up to meet peoples’ needs, no need to form a front against a hostile nation.
The wealth gap in the US is increasing; the “middle class” is shrinking to where the “lower class” is where most of these people end up. As this slow-burn crisis continues to expand and peoples’ material conditions further deteriorate, it becomes much easier for people to realize something is wrong. Education and radicalization is what will get the masses around the idea that the “American Dream” is all a farce.
Post-revolution, if the US were to follow the Chinese model, it would only end up empowering the already very powerful bourgeoisie, making the task of the vanguard so much more difficult. China started from even more feudal conditions than Russia; there really wasn’t a bourgeoisie like in Western capitalist nations. The gradual opening of the market (socialism with Chinese characteristics) has allowed the CPC to enact control on what happens with the growing bourgeoisie (and all the contradictions that they then have to manage as well). Meanwhile in the US, the bourgeoisie already exist and are incredibly bunkered-in.
It would be a disservice to the revolution to give them an inch. It’s the job of the US vanguard party to tear down everything, which not only benefits the working class of the US, but lifts the boot of imperialism around the world. The US controls so much internationally that the other Western nations would be scrambling to fill in the vacuum left in its wake, teetering the balance of power more in the favor of the international proletariat.
