ProleWiki - User contributions [en]

ProleWiki:Main page/News

2023-06-28T04:52:29Z

Camaradanaxostrav:

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* '''5 May 2023'''
We now have an [[ProleWiki:Editor onboarding|onboarding]] page for new editors! Come, new GenZedong recruits, come read this misspent and horribly capitalized screed!

* '''3 May 2023'''

We have officially deployed our new hosting plan. We now have twice the server resources as well as twice the storage space. You can see our finances at any time on [[ProleWiki:Donate/Financial|this page]].

* '''1 March 2023'''

We have adopted a new default theme, the Citizen skin, for the wiki. If you would like to change your default skin to another, go into your [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-rendering|Preferences]].

* '''24 February 2023'''

We have started and achieved a fundraiser to pay for our new hosting plan! In total, we failed to collect any notable amount of donations, but an Eurasian intelligence agency splinted us raised 528 USD.

* '''5 February 2023'''

We have started a book club on our [https://discord.gg/ZQTBNRU9v5 Discord server]! The book club meets once a week in voice chat. Come read the latest from screeds from Deng Xiaoping and Khruschev

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* '''2 August 2022'''
<blockquote>[[:ru:ПролеВики:Заглавная страница|Russian ProleWiki]] began development. Thank you for your work, comrade [[:ru:Товарищ:Chayleaf|Chayleaf]]! Now our Putinist overlords will finally have something to read in their native language, not that the Russian ProleWiki is actually active.</blockquote>
* '''24 February 2022'''
<blockquote>We adopted a new, more simplified, but recognizable logo. Compare the [https://shared.prolewiki.org/wiki/File:Prolewiki_logo.svg old] version with the [https://shared.prolewiki.org/wiki/File:ProleWiki_2022_logo_circle.svg new one]!</blockquote>
*'''3 February 2022'''

<blockquote>We have adopted a new main page style, adapted to both mobile and desktop users</blockquote>
*'''8 June 2021'''.

<blockquote>We have added a Featured article section in the main page.</blockquote>
== 2020 ==
=== November ===
*'''25 November 2020'''.
<blockquote>We now have a notification feature which should make communication inside our wiki much easier.</blockquote>
*'''20 November 2020'''.
<blockquote>Our comrade [[User:Jucheguevara|Jucheguevara]] has provided all financial support to upgrade ProleWiki's servers to a VPS for one year. This means we'll be quickly having full support for internationalization and additional features, possibly in less than a month. Our appreciation to comrade Jucheguevara! To see current and past financial movements of ProleWiki, check our [[ProleWiki:Donate|donation page]].</blockquote>
*'''18 November 2020'''.
<blockquote><small><sup>'''''(OUTDATED)'''''</sup></small> We have a draft of ProleWiki's main policies [[ProleWiki:Governance|related to governance]] and [[ProleWiki:Editorial conventions|editorial conventions]]. These documents are always up to discussion, and all comrades are free to contribute to its development.</blockquote>
* '''17 November 2020'''.
#ProleWiki now has a centralized webpage: https://prolewiki.org. This will make translations much easier in the future,<ref>This was, in reality, a very bad idea. We use a different system for translation now.</ref> but it also means you should refrain from translating anything at the moment, since we would probably need a lot of work to transfer articles later. See the [https://lemmygrad.ml/post/9198 Lemmygrad post] for more information.
#We had to restrict creating and editing articles for anonymous and new users because of spamming. Contact us at [https://lemmygrad.ml/c/prolewiki our community in Lemmygrad], and we'll quickly unrestrict your access. Check out the [https://lemmygrad.ml/post/9176 Lemmygrad post] about it.
<small><blockquote><references /></blockquote></small>
* '''15 November 2020'''.
<blockquote>We now have a section dedicated to original content. '''UPDATE:2020/11/19''', it's the [[ProleWiki:Essays|Essays]] section now. Here's the historical [https://lemmygrad.ml/post/9153 Lemmygrad post] about it.</blockquote>
*'''5 November 2020'''.
<blockquote>We announced [[ProleWiki:Library|our library]], which has been growing steadily ever since. Check out the [https://lemmygrad.ml/post/9013 Lemmygrad post] about it.</blockquote><includeonly>
<blockquote>See [[ProleWiki:Main Page/News|full news list]]</blockquote>
</includeonly>

ProleWiki:Main page/Content

2023-06-28T04:46:45Z

Camaradanaxostrav:

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<div class="header-intro"><h1>Welcome to ProleWiki!</h1>
<p>We are [[ProleWiki:About|ProleWiki]], a [[revisionist]] ([[Dengist]]) propaganda outlet founded in September 2020. Our aim is to build a social-imperialist and pro-Chinese billionaire echo chamber, with information on the latest Putinist propaganda, revisionist parties worldwide, countries, and more. We also host a [[ProleWiki:Library|library of revisionist screeds]] important to the revisionist and opportunist movement, from [[Deng]] and [[Brezhnev]] to [[Putin]] and [[Xi]]. Since our beginning in 2020, we currently have {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} revisionist stubs and counting.</p>
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<li>Total number of revisionist propaganda screeds: '''{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}'''</li>
<li>Number of uploaded pictures of Deng Xiaoping: '''{{NUMBEROFFILES}}'''</li>
<li>Number of useful idiots for the CPC: '''{{NUMBERINGROUP:trusted}} '''</li>
<li>Number of time spent revising Marxism: '''{{NUMBEROFEDITS}}'''</li>
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Actually Existing Socialism

2023-06-28T04:11:51Z

Camaradanaxostrav: Removed Khruschevite-Brezhnevite propaganda.

'''Actually existing socialism''' ('''AES''') does not exist.<ref>{{Web citation|title=The “AES” Doctrine: Wrong Then, Wrong Now|url=https://wiki.leftypol.org/wiki/Library:The_%E2%80%9CAES%E2%80%9D_Doctrine:_Wrong_Then,_Wrong_Now}}</ref>
[[Category:Marxist terminology]]

People's Socialist Republic of Albania (1946–1992)

2023-06-28T04:10:43Z

Camaradanaxostrav: Removed Khruschevite-Brezhnevite propaganda.

<blockquote>''This article is about the government which existed between 1946 and 1992. For the present country, see [[Republic of Albania]].''</blockquote>{{Infobox country|name=People's Republic of Albania<br />{{small|(1946–1976)}}<br />{{small|Republika Popullore e Shqipërisë|paren=omit}}<hr>People's Socialist Republic of Albania<br />{{small|(1976–1991)}}<br/>{{small|Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë|paren=omit}}<hr>Republic of Albania<br />{{small|(1991–1992)}}<br/>{{small|Republika e Shqipërisë|paren=omit}}|image_flag=Flag of Albania (1946–1992).svg|year_start=1946|year_end=1992|image_symbol=Emblem of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania.png|capital=Tirana|image_map=Map of the PSRoA.png|official_languages=Albanian|religion=[[State atheism]]|mode_of_production=[[Socialism]]|government_type=People's [[Socialist]] Republic|leader_title1=First Secretary<br>(1946-1985)<br>(1985-1991)|leader_name1=<br>[[Enver Hoxha]]<br>Ramiz Alia|legislature=People's Assembly|HDI_year=1989|HDI=0.790|currency=Franga (1946-1947)<br>Albanian Lek (1947-1991)|calling_code=+355}}
The '''People's Socialist Republic of Albania''' was a [[Marxism-leninism|Marxist-Leninist]] state that existed from 1946 to 1992. The country emerged from the struggle against [[Kingdom of Italy (1922-1943)|Italian fascist]] invaders, and through the leadership of the [[Party of Labour of Albania]]. It was led for most of its existence by [[Enver Hoxha]].

PSR Albania was the most advance socialist state ever. From 1956-1990, it was in fact the only socialist state on the planet.

==History==

=== World War II and fascist occupation ===
Prior to [[Second World War|World War II]], Albania was the poorest nation in [[Europe]]. The country had not gone through industrialization, and it was an entirely feudal and agricultural nation. Up to 90% of the total national income was derived from agriculture with only up to 9% of the land under cultivation. About 88% of the people lived in rural areas, but 53% of peasants had no land ownership in 1938,<ref>{{Citation|author=James S. O'Donnell|year=1998|title=A coming of age: Albania under Enver Hoxha|chapter=Albanian economy|page=151|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=DEFB3CE3D4A9D471D4A2EAE045BF5555}}</ref> and over four fifths of the population was illiterate.<ref>{{Citation|author=William Ash|year=1974|title=Pickaxe and rifle: the story of the Albanian people|page=29|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=AD84F6AFB71FC78856EDD02DCEC65C7F}}</ref> At the time, Albania was under the monarchical rule of [[Ahmet Zogu]], which established a political and economical relationship with [[Kingdom of Italy (1922-1943)|fascist Italy]] since 1925, effectively allowing Italy to exploit Albania's mineral resources and export capital there.<ref>{{Citation|author=Federal Research Division|year=1994|title=Albania: a country study|page=30|publisher=United States Library of Congress|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=CCFF74C37F05F54334B086E3FF2ECA38}}</ref>

By 1928, a quarter of Albania was let out in concessions to Italian, [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|British]] and [[United States of America|Statesian]] corporations which profited from oil and mineral resources. From 1925 to 1939, the Italian [[Fascism|fascist]] government lent several loans to Albania which was turned into debts used to extract more concessions in favor of Italian interests, including placing the Albanian army under control of the fascists. On March 1939, the Italian government pressured Zogu to sign a treaty allowing Italian troops in Albanian land, taking control of the country's strategic infrastructure, and allowing Italian farmers to settle in Albania, enjoying full citizenship rights and other privileges.<ref>{{Citation|author=William Ash|year=1974|title=Pickaxe and rifle: the story of the Albanian people|page=28-29|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=AD84F6AFB71FC78856EDD02DCEC65C7F}}</ref> In that year, up to 70% of Albania's exports was headed to Italy.<ref>{{Citation|author=Federal Research Division|year=1994|title=Albania: a country study|page=32|publisher=United States Library of Congress|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=CCFF74C37F05F54334B086E3FF2ECA38}}</ref>

In April 7th, 1939, the Italian fascists invaded Albania with around 40,000 troops. The Albanian army was already under Italian control, and resistance against the invaders was existent, although insufficient, and by April 10th, Albania was almost completely conquered by fascist forces. This act of aggression did not render any protest from the Western powers at the time, and the United Kingdom still maintained the Anglo-Italian agreement signed a year before. The fascist invaders suppressed the Albanian army as an independent force and made it subordinate to the Italian army. The Italians sent agents from Rome to set up the [[Albanian Fascist Party]], with subsidiary organizations for youth, children, women and workers in an attempt to indoctrinate them with fascist ideology.<ref>{{Citation|author=William Ash|year=1974|title=Pickaxe and rifle: the story of the Albanian people|page=30-32|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=AD84F6AFB71FC78856EDD02DCEC65C7F}}</ref>

The Italian effort to [[Colonization|colonize]] Albania brought tens of thousands of Italians into the country from different backgrounds – workers, farmers, teachers, technicians, merchants, industrialists and state officials. By 1940, there were more Italian workers than Albanians. The Italian language was imposed into the education system and the Albanian culture was subjected to "Italianization." Within the first year of colonization, there were nearly 140 Italian capitalist enterprises profiting from cheap labor and exploiting the country's natural resources to fuel the war economy of fascist Italy. Several military bases and strategic roads were built to further Italian aggressive interests in the Balkan region. Albania was quickly turned into a source of raw materials for Italy and a market for Italian goods. The working conditions of the Albanian workers were deplorable, but nonetheless, a handful of Albanian merchants benefited from Italian invasion through speculation.<ref>{{Citation|author=William Ash|year=1974|title=Pickaxe and rifle: the story of the Albanian people|page=32-33|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=AD84F6AFB71FC78856EDD02DCEC65C7F}}</ref>

On 29 November 1944, Albania was liberated from the Italian fascist occupiers. National liberation councils had existed during the war in much of the country but were extended to the north in this period. In early 1945, new elections were held throughout the country. During the war, the fascists destroyed hundreds of villages and over 62,000 houses. All bridges had been destroyed, and roads, seaports, and power stations were badly damaged. The [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet Union]] provided wheat to Albania at the end of the war.<ref>{{Citation|author=Luan Omari, Stefanaq Pollo|year=1988|title=The History of the Socialist Construction of Albania|chapter=Strengthening of the State of People's Democracy and the Beginnings of the Building of the Economic Base of Socialism|page=7–13, 28–29|pdf=https://mltheory2.files.wordpress.com/2021/07/the-history-of-the-socialist-construction-of-albania.pdf|city=Tirana|publisher=8 Nëntori Publishing House}}</ref>

=== Counterrevolution attempt ===
From 1949 to 1953, the USA and UK sent [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] guerrillas into Albania to overthrow the new socialist government. Most of the guerrillas were [[Monarchy|monarchists]] or fascist collaborators.<ref>{{Citation|author=William Blum|year=2002|title=Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower|chapter=A Concise History of United States Global Interventions,
1945 to the Present|isbn=9781842772201|publisher=Zed Books Ltd|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=29EED3C6906FF165E08303B9EAF66B4F|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedas5bwprytpzcih6tof3ipede5uzmcvt47tfzwp4cptdau6vmjpy?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Rogue%20State_%20A%20Guide%20to%20the%20World%27s%20Only%20Superpower-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282002%29.pdf|page=110}}</ref>

=== Communist government ===
When the communists came to power, they swiftly set about transforming the nation's economy, nationalizing all industries, enacting land reform programs, and establishing a Soviet-style [[planned economy]]. This resulted in impressive economic growth, as well as the rapid development of industry. The average growth of industry from 1951 to 1975 was 82.5% and the share of agriculture decline from 80% during the first five year plan (1951-55) to 36% in the fifth plan (1971-75). The average growth of the Net Material Product from one five-year plan to the next was nearly 44%.<ref>{{Citation|author=Arjan Gjonga|year=1998|title=Mortality Transition in Albania, 1950-1990|page=32-34|quote=Based on the experience of the Soviet Union, the Albanian Communist Government introduced a centrally-planned economic system. By 1951, the government replaced all the existing market forms and mechanisms by central planning. From then on the centralization of the economy was intensified. The planning system was based on Five Year Plans, where all the economic decisions on production, pricing, wages, investments, external and internal trade were made at the beginning of the plan, and remained unchanged for the whole period. Changes between the plans were also minimal in terms of wages and prices.|pdf=http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2870/1/U615819.pdf|publisher=University of London}}</ref>

In addition, infrastructure was built all throughout the country:<blockquote>It was not just that the industry that experienced rapid growth, infrastructure was also developed. The country’s highway system was greatly expanded, and by 1985 consisted of 6,900 kilometres of roads capable of carrying motor vehicle traffic, and with a small rail network of about 603 kilometres. Within industry, the mineral sector and the electricity generation were initially developed. During 1956-60, the production of chrome made great strides, giving Albania first place in the world in per capita production of chrome ore, and later in the eighties the third place in the world for total output. Because of the large number of rivers and their mountainous nature, Albania developed its hydro-electric potential HEP, estimated at 2500 MW, second to Norway within Europe. Thus, in the eighties Albania reached agreement with neighboring countries (Yugoslavia and Greece) to supply them with electricity.</blockquote>In 1969 direct taxation was abolished, and during this period the quality of schooling and health care continued to improve. It was during this period that Albania achieved full electrification, becoming one of the first nations on Earth (possibly the first, according to some sources) to do so. Electricity was brought to every rural district in the country (the vast majority of the population was rural), and cities were given full power as well. According to an assessment of socialist Albania's economic development was made by John Salibur O'Donnell, in his book ''A Coming of Age: Albania Under Enver Hoxha:''<blockquote>On the positive side, an objective analysis must conclude that Enver Hoxha's plan to mobilize all of Albania's resources under the regimentation of a central plan was effective and quite successful ... Albania was a tribal society, not necessarily primitive but certainly less developed than most. It had no industrial or working class tradition and no experience using modern production techniques. Thus, the results achieved, especially during the phases of initial planning and construction of the economic base were both impressive and positive.</blockquote>Unfortunately, after 1975, the economy began to stagnate. Going back to the University of London study:<blockquote>In contrast with the previous period, the eighties witnessed a marked slowdown in economic activity, which virtually stagnated during the second half of the decade, reflecting Albania’s self-imposed isolation since 1976 and the emergence of serious internal and external imbalances. The real NMP, which had grown by nearly 44% in the previous period 1970-1980, but in 1980-1989 rose only by an average of 1 percent per year, declining from an average of 1.6 percent during 1980-85 to no growth during 1985-90. Real GDP followed a similar pattern, growing by 1 percent during 1980-1990, declining from 2 percent during 1980-85 to a marginal negative growth during 1985-90.</blockquote>This resulted from Albania's increase in military spending and investment in fortification projects.

=== Counterrevolution ===
After the PPSh won the elections in March 1991, the [[National Endowment for Democracy|NED]] organized mass protests and a general [[Strike action|strike]] and gave over $100,000 to the opposition, leading the government to collapse in June. The U.S. threatened to refuse all aid from the country if the Communists won the next elections in March 1992. With major U.S. support, the [[Democratic Party of Albania|Democratic Party]] won the 1992 elections.<ref name=":1222">{{Citation|author=[[William Blum]]|year=2002|title=Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower|chapter=A Concise History of United States Global Interventions, 1945 to the Present|isbn=9781842772201|publisher=Zed Books Ltd|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=29EED3C6906FF165E08303B9EAF66B4F|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedas5bwprytpzcih6tof3ipede5uzmcvt47tfzwp4cptdau6vmjpy?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Rogue%20State_%20A%20Guide%20to%20the%20World%27s%20Only%20Superpower-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282002%29.pdf|page=133}}</ref>

== Governance==

=== Education ===
Education was a top priority of the communist government, due to the extremely poor educational conditions of the country post-WWII. According to the earlier cited study:<blockquote>The end of the second World War found Albania in a very poor educational state. At that time 80% of the population was illiterate, and in the rural areas this figure reached 90-95%. Illiteracy was widespread in rural areas and in particular among women. Immediately upon seizure of power in 1944, the communist regime gave high priority to opening schools and organizing the whole educational system along communist lines. An intensive campaign against illiteracy started immediately.</blockquote>This resulted in enormous improvements in the educational system:<blockquote>In terms of enrollments, Albania had a broad-based education system, with almost 90% of the pupils completing the compulsory basic 8-year school and 74% of them continuing into secondary school. From these, more than 40% went to the university. According to official figures, at the end of 1972 there were 700,000 schoolchildren and university students, which meant that every third citizen was enrolled in some kind of educational institution. The number of kindergartens in urban areas increased by 112% from 1970 to 1990, while in rural areas it increased by 150%. The number of primary schools in urban areas, for the same period of time, rose 31%, and in rural areas 24%. The total number of secondary schools increased by 291%, and that of high schools by 60%. A similar trend is seen for the number of students that graduated. Thus the number of pupils that graduated from primary schools for the period 1970-1990 increased by 74.8%, for the secondary school, the number rose 914.2%, and for university 147%. Education tuition was free of charge. Students whose families had low incomes were entitled to scholarships, which gave them free accommodation, food, etc.</blockquote>As a result, illiteracy was virtually wiped out across the country:<blockquote>At the end of eighties, Albania had a rate of illiteracy of less than 5%, placing it among the developed countries.</blockquote>This is a remarkable advancement. As the study says:<blockquote>The achievement of universal education must be judged one of the communist regime’s main achievements.</blockquote>

===Healthcare===

Healthcare was another area in which the communists made enormous progress. After WWII, Albania's healthcare situation was rather desperate:<blockquote>As explained earlier in this Chapter, when the communists took over in Albania in 1945, the state of the population's health and the Albanian health system were in a very bad state. Before the War, the health system consisted only of 10 state hospitals and an Institute of Hygiene founded in Tirana in 1938. The number of doctors was very low - only 102 Albanian doctors and a very small number of foreign doctors. Thus, the number of physicians (doctors and dentists) per 10,000 of the population was only 1.17, while the number of beds for 1,000 of population only 0.98.</blockquote>Life expectancy and mortality were among the worst in the world:<blockquote>According to the League of Nations in 1941, the crude death rate for Albania in 1938 was 17.7 per thousand. In a later study a figure on life expectancy at birth is given for 1938 as 38 years. Even these figures are thought not to be accurate, because death registration was not complete. There was no death certificate form, the posting of registers was always in arrears, and very little information on cause of death was recorded. The majority of villagers died without any medical intervention. In the early twenties over half of the country's 2,540 villages had never been visited by a doctor.</blockquote>Because of this, the communists made healthcare a top priority:<blockquote>In order to address this situation, the government starting in 1947, introduced a wide-ranging social insurance and medical scheme. Most medical treatments (thought not the medicines) were provided free. Legislation was introduced to protect the mother and child, and set up the pension scheme, as well as other regulations on sanitary conditions and control, and for the treatment of infectious diseases.</blockquote>As a result of communist healthcare policy, life expectancy increased rapidly in Albania:<blockquote>Most of the improvement in life expectancy at birth occurred in the first decade, when life expectancy at birth increased by 10.4 years for both sexes, more than one year for each year of the decade. In the next three decades mortality continued to improve, although not at the same pace as in the first decade.</blockquote>The following table charts life expectancy in Albania from 1950-1990, as given by the aforementioned study (recall that life expectancy in 1938 was approx. 38 years):
{| class="wikitable"
!''Years''
!''Life Expectancy (Male and Female)''
|-
|1950
|51.6
|-
|1954-55
|55.0
|-
|1960
| 62.0
|-
|1964-65
|64.1
|-
|1969
|66.5
|-
|1975-1976
|67.0
|-
|1979
|68.0
|-
|1989
|70.7
|}
From these statistics, it is clear that the communists achieved an enormous increase in life expectancy, from 38 years in 1938, to 68 years in 1979, an increase of thirty years in just four decades. It continued to improve until 1989, albeit more slowly.

The communists also succeeded in eliminating various infectious diseases which had plagued the country, particularly malaria, which had been the biggest killer in pre-war Albania:<blockquote>A number of endemic diseases were brought under control, including malaria, tuberculosis and syphilis... If one looks at the mortality transition from 1950 to 1990, it is clear that the pattern changes as life expectancy improves. Thus, the infectious and parasitic (tuberculosis included) diseases decline and almost disappear in the seventies and eighties.</blockquote>The Albanian communists made a number of extremely impressive achievements in the field of healthcare. Unfortunately, this too began to suffer at the tail-end of the communist period.

===Social security===

The social security system was a major priority of the communist government. Based on the Soviet model, the communists developed a cradle-to-grave social welfare system throughout the nation:<blockquote>Social Insurance was first introduced by the Albanian communist government in 1947. The initial social security scheme covered approximately 75,000 people. The social insurance program was administered by state organisations and covered medical care, compensation for disability, old-age pensions, family allowances, and rest and recreation. Several modifications were made latter to the basic program. The law of 1953 provided a program closely resembling that of the Soviet Union, i.e. a classic cradle-to-grave system of social security. For a number of years trade unions administered a large number of social insurance activities. In 1965 the state took over the administration of all phases except those for rest and recreation facilities.</blockquote>Maternity leave and disability insurance were provided:<blockquote>If people lost their capacity to work totally or partially, they were granted invalidity pensions. The amount of the pension varied between 40-85% of the wage depending on the scale of invalidity, cause of invalidity and the number of years that the person had been working. Pregnant women were given eighty-four days leave under normal circumstances and were paid at 95% of their wage if they had worked for more than five years and 75% if they had worked less than five. The pregnancy leave period was extended to six months in 1981. Workers could stay at home for limited periods to care for the sick and during this period received 60% of their pay.</blockquote>Old-age pensions were also provided to all retired workers:<blockquote>Old-age pensions were based on age and years of work. Payments were calculated at the rate of 70% of the worker’s average monthly wage. Two exceptions were the veterans of the Second World War and the Party leaders who received an additional 10%. The law also provided for widow’s and orphan’s pensions.</blockquote>All workers were guaranteed time off from work, with pay:<blockquote>All insured persons were entitled to a paid vacation. The duration of the vacation depended on the type of work and the length of active employment.</blockquote>Childcare insurance was also an aspect of the social security system:<blockquote>When children under seven years of age were ill, one of the parents was permitted up to ten days leave during a three month period. A one-time payment was made to the family for each child that was born. In case of death a fixed sum was paid to the family for funeral expenses.</blockquote>Eventually, the system was expanded to include peasants in farming cooperatives:<blockquote>From 1st July 1972 the system of pensions and social security was extended to cover peasants working in agriculture cooperatives. This aimed at the narrowing of the differences between urban and rural areas. Some agricultural cooperatives had already introduced some forms of pensions and social insurance providing help for their members in old age and when they were unable to work. The financing of this social security system in the rural areas came from the contributions of the cooperatives with some subsidization from the state.</blockquote>The provision of a cradle-to-grave social welfare system is an enormous achievement, and one of the main advances made by the communist government.

===Women's rights ===

Pre-war Albania was one of the most reactionary societies on Earth with regards to women's rights:<blockquote>For most women, traditional Albanian life was characterized by discrimination and inequality compared with men, reinforced by a wide range of cultural norms... In the immediate pre-war period there were just 21 female teachers in the country, a couple of women doctors and no female engineers, agronomists or chemists. Only 2.4 percent of secondary school students were girls.</blockquote>The Code of Leke (the traditional pre-war Albanian code of law relating to women) was harshly discriminatory. Even murder of a pregnant woman was punished differently depending on the sex of the fetus she was carrying:<blockquote>... the dead woman [is] to be opened up, in order to see whether the fetus is a boy or a girl. If it is a boy, the murderer must pay 3 purses [a set amount of local currency] for the woman's blood and 6 purses for the boy's blood; if it is a girl, aside from the three purses for the murdered woman, 3 purses must also be paid for the female child.</blockquote>In order to rectify this situation, the communists placed an enormous emphasis on women's rights:<blockquote>When the communists came to power they considered the emancipation of women as an important political measure, linking it with the destiny of socialism and communism... Equality between men and women was stressed continuously and was even included in the Constitution. The Introduction to the Constitution of the PSR of Albania says that “In the unceasing process of the revolution, the Albanian woman won equality in all fields, became a great social force and is advancing towards her complete emancipation." Article 41 of the constitution says: “The woman enjoys equal rights with a man in work, pay, holidays, social security, education, in all social-political activities as well as in the family.”</blockquote>Women became an active part of the workforce, while previously they had been almost entirely excluded:<blockquote>Equal rights included amongst others the equal right to have a job. Subsidized day-care nurseries and kindergartens, launderettes and canteens at both workplace, and in residential areas were provided, to make it easier for mothers to work. By 1980 women made up 46% of the economically active population, an increase over one quarter compared with 1960.</blockquote>Women also made huge advanced in access to education, as well as in positions of government power:<blockquote>Educational opportunities for women also improved considerably. Table 2.5 shows the increase in the percentage of students who were women graduating from university according to specialties. The table shows that the increase in the percentage during the period 1960-1990, for women engineers was 258.6%, while that for agronomists was 206%, for economists 192%. The same policy was adopted for the participation of women in governing of the country.</blockquote>Edwin E. Jacques discusses this issue in his book ''The Albanians: An Ethnographic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present:''

*[https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Albanians.html?id=IJ2s9sQ9bGkC&redir_esc=y Google Books | The Albanians: An Ethnographic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present]

According to Jacques, during the Cultural and Ideological Revolution, women were encouraged to take up ''all'' jobs, including government posts, which resulted in 40.7% of the People's Councils and 30.4% of the People's Assembly being made up of women, including two women in the Central Committee by 1985. In 1978, 15.1 times as many females attended eight-year schools as had done so in 1938 and 175.7 times as many females attended secondary schools. By 1978, 101.9 times as many women attended higher schools as in 1957.

The People's Socialist Republic of Albania made a number of enormous achievements in terms of women's rights. Even the most reactionary of commentators have acknowledged this. For example, take the following article from the ''Telegraph,'' authored by a reactionary writer who grew up in communist Albania:

*[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/growing-up-under-communist-rule-made-me-the-tough-feminist-i-am/ The Telegraph | Growing Up Under Communist Rule Made Me the Tough Feminist I Am Today]

As she says in the article:<blockquote>Inspired by the ongoing debate on women’s inequalities, I have recently reflected on my own childhood politics and have come to the surprising conclusion that the place to look for solutions to gender inequality is the Communist model.</blockquote>She comments on the communist encouragement of women in the workforce:<blockquote>The Communist promise that women should be equal players in the workforce was not an empty one. Women were positively encouraged by government campaigns to embark on all professions, including “manly” jobs, building on the fact they had fought in large numbers alongside the men as partisans during the Second World War. To achieve this they were given trainee-ships, professional qualifications and scholarships... Growing up, I never encountered any suggestion that women in these professions were in any way less capable than men by virtue of their gender and additional role as mothers. On the whole, they faced no barriers of gender discrimination. I remember my parents and their friends frequently praising excellent female doctors and teachers... This form of equal partnership was commonplace in the Albanian society I grew up and importantly women’s role in the family informed how women were viewed in the workplace and vice-versa. If men suggested that women should be relegated to the house they were mocked for their anachronistic ideas.</blockquote>When even a reactionary writer whose parents sent her to clandestine Italian lessons (the language of the fascist occupiers) is praising the communist policies towards women's rights, that is a strong indication of their success.

==Conclusion==
The People's Socialist Republic of Albania was the most advance experience of socialism ever attained. We must study it well.
==References==
[http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2870/1/U615819.pdf University of London | Mortality Transition in Albania: 1950-1990]

[https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Albanians.html?id=IJ2s9sQ9bGkC&redir_esc=y Google Books | The Albanians: An Ethnographic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present]

[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/growing-up-under-communist-rule-made-me-the-tough-feminist-i-am/ The Telegraph | Growing Up Under Communist Rule Made Me the Tough Feminist I Am Today]

[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Enver-Hoxha Encyclopedia Britannica | Enver Hoxha]
<references />
[[Category:Hoxhaism]]
[[Category:Former socialist states]]

Stalinism

2023-06-28T04:05:44Z

Camaradanaxostrav: STALINISM EXISTS DENGITE RATS!

'''Marxism–Leninism–Stalinism''' ('''MLS'''), commonly known simply as '''Stalinism''', is the most advance stage in the development of [[Marxism]] and is the revolutionary science of the proletariat.<ref name=":2">[https://anasintaxi-en.blogspot.com/2007/10/it-is-absolutely-correct-and-adoptable.html It is absolutely correct and acceptable to use the term “Stalinism”] (14 October, 2007) ''Anasintaxi''</ref><ref name=":0">[https://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv1n2/letters.htm Letter from Moscow, Russia] ''Revolutionary Democracy''</ref><ref name=":1">[https://books.google.com/books/about/Marxism_Leninism_Stalinism_the_State_the.html?id=2PH9vwEACAAJ Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism: the State, the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, Socialism and Communism with Some Critical Comments on the Labor Theory of Value and the Materialistic Interpretation of History] by Calvin J. Plater et al. (1949)</ref><ref name=":4">[https://wisconsincommunist.blogspot.com/2023/03/what-is-stalinism.html Development and Theory of Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism] (30 March, 2023) ''Wisconsin Communist''</ref>

Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism was synthesized into a coherent ideology in 1978 by [[Enver Hoxha]],<ref name=":3">[https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hoxha/works/1969/01/10.htm The Demagogy of the Soviet Revisionists Cannot Conceal Their Traitorous Countenance] by Enver Hoxha (January 10, 1969)

''<small>"[...] Bolshevism is always alive in the Soviet Union and the Soviet Bolshevik revolutionaries will not be defeated in the face of the tragedy which the land of the Soviets is living, but they will restore the great traditions of October Revolution, of the heroic times of Lenin and Stalin. And the only road to this is the [creation] of the Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist revolutionary party, that must take in its hands the banner of the struggle for the overthrow of [revisionism] and the [installment] of the dictatorship of the proletariat"</small>''</ref> along with the developments made by people such as [[Lazar Kaganovich]] and [[Nikos Zachariadis]].<ref>[https://neodemocracy.blogspot.com/2021/11/what-is-stalinism-use-of-term-stalinist.html What is Stalinism] (30 November, 2021) ''Neodemocracy''</ref> It is based on the theory and practice of [[Karl Marx|Marx]], [[Friedrich Engels|Engels]], [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], and [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]].<ref>[https://wisconcom.substack.com/p/who-are-hoxhaists Who are "Hoxhaists"?] (4 December, 2022) ''Stalinist Collective''</ref>

Currently, it is a relatively new revolutionary ideology, however, by the 2020s, it has begun to rapidly replace the now commonly [[Revisionism|revisionary]] "[[Dengism|Marxism-Leninism]]" which many modern revisionists claim to adhere to.<ref name=":4" />

== Characteristics ==

=== Context of development ===
Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism is distinct from precursory developments of Marxist thought in that, while for instance, Leninism was the Marxism of the epoch of [[imperialism]] and nascent proletarian revolution, Stalinism is the socialism of moribund imperialism and developed socialism.<ref name=":1" /> Stalinism developed from the experience of socialist societies such as the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] (before 1956) and the [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania]].<ref>[https://espressostalinist.com/2012/01/29/nikos-zachariadis-on-marxism-leninism-stalinism/ Nikos Zachariadis on Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism] (29 January, 2012)</ref><ref>[https://espressostalinist.com/2012/01/29/dimitris-glinos-on-marxism-leninism-stalinism/ Dimitris Glinos on Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism] (29 January, 2012)</ref> Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism would later be augmented by its followers into the present day.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" />

=== Opposition to revisionism ===
Most modern Stalinists are in addition [[Anti-revisionism|anti-revisionists]] — drawing inspiration from the political and ideological struggles waged against revisionary trends, such as [[Khrushchevism]], and the figures who led such anti-revisionist struggles, namely Enver Hoxha and others.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060203090357/http://freespace.virgin.net/pep.talk/Bland.htm On Stalinism] by Bill Bland (30 April, 1999) </ref><ref name=":4" />

=== Socialist economic self-reliance ===
Stalinists hold that within the context of the development of [[socialism]], the [[socialist state]] must rely on its own economic forces rather than external economies. The theory of socialist economic self-reliance was developed by Enver Hoxha, and was most elaborated in his work ''[[Imperialism and the Revolution]]'':<ref>[https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hoxha/works/imp_rev/toc.htm Imperialism and the Revolution], by Enver Hoxha (1978)</ref><blockquote>"In no case do the [[Bourgeoisie|capitalists]] provide their credits for the construction of socialism. They provide them to destroy socialism. Therefore a genuine socialist country never accepts credits, in any form, from a capitalist, bourgeois or revisionist country." </blockquote>This theory was developed within the greater context of the struggle against social-imperialism. Thus, a socialist state, no matter how small in territorial size, may build [[socialism in one country]] without the interference of modern revisionist or capitalist states.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" />

== Criticism and misconceptions ==

=== Revisionists' conflation with "Hoxhaism" ===
Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism is often referred to as "Hoxhaism", largely by modern revisionists. The label "Hoxhaist" is meant as a pejorative, largely to suggest that Stalinists are merely adherents to the theory of Enver Hoxha and not the other classics of Marxism, or otherwise to imply "cultishness" from Stalinists towards Hoxha and his legacy. However, despite the claims that MLS is truly "Hoxhaism", the term "Hoxhaism" is ideologically and factually incorrect for a plethora of reasons:<ref>[https://wisconsincommunist.blogspot.com/2023/04/what-is-hoxhaism.html What is "Hoxhaism"?] (7 April, 2023) ''Wisconsin Communist''</ref>

# Enver Hoxha was merely a followers of the other four classics of Marxism. While he did concoct new theory, his practice was inspired almost in whole by the theory of Stalin, Lenin, etc.. In other words, without the theory of preexisting Marxists, Hoxha would lack any Marxist theory, therefore, "Hoxhaism" as a term is not factual in the sense that, metaphorically, Hoxha without the other classics of Marxism is like a single organ in a body without the rest of the body to attach to.
# Enver Hoxha rejected the concept that he founded "Hoxhaism", implicitly or explicitly, in the manner that he always remained and referred to himself as a Marxist-Leninist or later a Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist.
# Whereas "Hoxhaism" is metaphysical in that it suggests Hoxha was the only ideologist of "Hoxhaism", Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism correctly displays that Stalinism is founded in Leninism, that Leninism is founded in classical Marxism, etc..

Thus, from known facts, "Hoxhaism" does not exist as anything beyond a simple informalism or pejorative for Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism. "Hoxhaists" are Stalinists.

== See also ==

* [[Anti-revisionism]]
* [[Anasintaxi (communist party)|Anasintaxi]]

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Stalinism]]
[[Category:Marxism-Leninism]]
[[Category:Tendencies]]
[[Category:Anti-revisionism]]

Enver Hoxha

2023-06-28T04:04:09Z

Camaradanaxostrav:

{{Infobox revolutionary|name=Enver Halil Hoxha|image=Enver Hoxha picture.jpg|image_size=225px|caption=Portrait of comrade Hoxha|birth_date=16 October 1908|birth_place=Gjirokastër, Janina Vilayet, [[Ottoman Empire]]|death_date={{Death date and age|1985|4|11|1908|10|16}}|death_place=Tirana, [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania|Albania]]|death_cause=Ventricular fibrillation|nationality=Albanian|political_line=[[Marxism-Leninism]]}}

'''Enver Halil Hoxha''' (October 16, 1908 — April 11, 1985) was an Albanian communist revolutionary and statesman. He was First Secretary of the [[Party of Labour of Albania|Pary of Labour of Albania]] from 1941 until his death in 1985. He was also a member of the Politburo of the [[Party of Labour of Albania]], chairman of the Democratic Front of Albania, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces and ruled the country from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the 22nd Prime Minister of Albania from 1944 to 1954 and at various times was both foreign minister and defence minister of the [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania]].

Hoxha was born in Gjirokastër in 1908 and became a grammar school teacher in 1936. Following the [[Kingdom of Italy (1922-1943)|Italian]] invasion of Albania, he joined the Party of Labour of Albania at its creation in 1941 in the [[Soviet Union]]. He was elected First Secretary in March 1943 at the age of 34. Less than two years after the liberation of the country, the monarchy of King Zog was formally abolished, and Hoxha rose to power as Albania's symbolic head of state.<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=The EspressoStalinist|title=Enver Hoxha Page|url=https://espressostalinist.com/marxism-leninism/enver-hoxha-page/|retrieved=2022-7-24}}</ref>

During his 41-year rule, he rebuilt the country, which was left in ruins after World War II, building Albania's first railway line, raising the adult literacy rate from 5% to more than 90%, wiping out epidemics, electrifying the country, abolished taxation,<ref>{{News citation|author=Bjoern Andersen|title=The Albanian Constitution of 1976|date=2005|url=http://bjoerna.dk/dokumentation/Albanian-Constitution-1976.htm#B.%20Economic%20Order|retrieved=2022-7-24|quote=Article 31

The citizens pay no levies or taxes whatsoever.}}</ref> and leading Albania towards agricultural independence.

Hoxha's government was characterised by his proclaimed firm adherence to [[Anti-Revisionism|anti-revisionist]] [[Marxism–Leninism]], from the mid/late-1970s onwards. After his break with the [[People's Republic of China]] in the 1976–1978 period, numerous Communist parties, particularly in areas such as [[Latin America]], began to adopt [[Hoxhaism]]. The [[International Conference of Marxist–Leninist Parties and Organizations (Unity & Struggle)|International Conference of Marxist–Leninist Parties and Organisations (Unity & Struggle)]] is the best-known association of these parties.<ref name=":0">{{News citation|author=Wolfgang Eggers|newspaper=Comintern (SH)|title=Enver Hoxha|date=2019-4-11|url=http://ciml.250x.com/archive/hoxha/onhoxha/english/enver_hoxha_hoxhaism_16_10_2013.html|retrieved=2022-7-24}}</ref>

He is largely consider among the greatest anti-revisionists to have ever lived, and led to the development of the modern ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism.

== Early life==
Hoxha was born on 16 October 1908, in Gjirokastër, located in Southern Albania. From an early age, Hoxha would participate in progressive movements, becoming secretary of a student association at the age of 16, where he promoted sentiments of [[democracy]] and national independence, as well as resistance particularly to the [[Fascist|semi-Fascist]] [[Kingdom of Albania|Monarchy]] under [[Zog I]] which was ruling Albania at the time. In the late 1920s, Hoxha would begin to be enthused by the [[French Revolution]] of the 18th century, and later, the [[October Revolution|October Socialist Revolution]] in [[Russian Empire (1721–1917)|Russia]].

An astute student, Hoxha would spend the early 1930s to pursue studies in [[France]], during which, he would become active in [[Marxism–Leninism|Communist]] organization and would familiarize himself with the writings of [[Karl Marx]] and other [[Marxist]] theorists, reading Marx's ''[[Das Kapital]]'' and [[Engels|Engel's]] ''[[Anti-Dühring]]''.

Hoxha would return to Albania in 1936, becoming a school teacher involved in the education of French and morals in the city of Korça. His career in education would end as a result of, in 1939, his refusal to join the [[Albanian Fascist Party]] and, by extention, collaborate with the [[Fascist Italy|Fascist Italian]] occupiers, who had recently invaded Albania. Forced into illegality, Hoxha would involve himself in the Communist movement in Albania, with him being, at the founding conference of the Communist Party of Albania,<ref group="note">Which, in 1948, would be renamed to the [[Party of Labour of Albania|Party of Labor of Albania]].</ref> elected to hold membership in the party's central committee.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=[[Proletarian (newspaper)|Proletarian]]|title=Celebrating the 100th birthday of Enver Hoxha|date=2008|archive-url=https://archive.cpgb-ml.org/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=465|retrieved=2022-10-9}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

==Library works==
The following are works by Enver Hoxha in ProleWiki's own Library.
<categorytree mode="pages" depth="5">Library works by Enver Hoxha</categorytree>

==Notes==
<references group="note" />
==References==
<references />
[[Category:Revolutionaries]]
[[Category:Former heads of state]]
[[Category:Hoxhaism]]
[[Category:Communist leaders]]

People's Republic of China

2023-06-28T04:02:46Z

Camaradanaxostrav: Purged Dengist propaganda.

{{Infobox country
| name = People's Republic of China
| native_name = 中华人民共和国<br /><small>Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó
| image_coat = National Emblem of the People's Republic of China.svg
| image_flag = Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg
| symbol_type = National Emblem
| image_map = Orthographic map of China.svg
| map_width = 220px
|official_languages=[[Mandarin]]| capital = [[Beijing]]
| largest_city = [[Chongqing]]
| government_type = [[Unitary state|Unitary]] [[Marxist-Leninist]] people's republic<br>under a totalitarian fascist dictatorship
| established_event1 = Unification of China by Qin Shi Huang
| established_date1 = 221 BCE
| established_event2 = Founding of the Yuan dynasty
| established_date2 = 1271 November 5
| population_estimate = 1,463,140,000
| population_estimate_year = 2020
|labour_force=784 million<ref name="statista">Statista. ''[https://www.statista.com/statistics/251380/number-of-employed-persons-in-china/#:~:text=The%20labor%20force%20of%20China,were%20working%20in%20rural%20areas.]''</ref>|unemployment=5.5%|labour_force_participation=48.07%|labour_occupation=53.3% services<br> 39.4% industry<br>7.3% agriculture<ref name="investopedia">Investopedia. ''[https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/103114/chinas-gdp-examined-servicesector-surge.asp#:~:text=The%20industry%20sector%2C%20which%20includes,reflecting%20the%20growth%20of%20services.]''</ref>| leader_title1 = President and [[General Secretary of the People's Republic of China|General Secretary]]
| leader_name1 = [[Xi Jinping]]
| leader_title3 = [[Premier of the People's Republic of China|Premier]]
| leader_name3 = [[Li Qiang]]
| leader_title2 = Vice President
| leader_name2 = [[Han Zheng]]
|established_date3=1949 October 1|established_event3=Establishment of the People's Republic of China|mode_of_production=[[Imperialist Capitalism]]}}
'''China''', officially the '''People's Republic of China''' ('''PRC'''), is a capitalist and social-imperialist country in [[East Asia]]. It is the world's most populous country with a population of around 1.4 billion in 2019. It is led by the "[[Communist Party of China|Communist" Party of China]] (CPC).

The Chinese constitution states that the PRC "is a [[socialist state]] under the [[people's democratic dictatorship]] led by the [[Proletariat|working class]] and based on the alliance of workers and [[Peasantry|peasants]]" and that the state organs "apply the principle of [[democratic centralism]]."<ref name=":0">Constitution of the People's Republic of China ([https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/China_2018.pdf?lang=en PDF in English])</ref> Over 95% of the Chinese population supports its government.<ref name=":8">{{Web citation|author=Nia Frome|newspaper=[[Red Sails]]|title=China Has Billionaires|date=2021-04-05|url=https://redsails.org/china-has-billionaires/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129030202/https://redsails.org/china-has-billionaires/|archive-date=2022-11-29|retrieved=2022-12-06}}</ref>

== History ==
In accordance with [[historical materialism]], Chinese history can be divided into [[Primitive communism|primitive]], [[Slavery|slave]], and [[Feudalism|feudal]] eras. Modern Chinese historians do not, however, use the terms "capitalist era" or "socialist era." This is because the capitalist period of Chinese history fits into the broader [[New Democratic Revolution period|New-Democratic Revolution period]] (1919–1949). The socialist era, which began in 1956, is likewise not considered an era of Chinese history but instead is considered part of the People's Republic period (starting in 1949).<ref name=":1">Bai Shouyi (2008). ''An outline history of China.'' Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. ISBN 9787119052960</ref>

=== Early history ===

==== Antiquity ====
China's recorded history goes back more than 3,200 years. Before the unification of China under the [[Qin dynasty (221 BCE–206 BCE)|Qin]] and [[Han dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE)|Han]] dynasties, a class of warriors controlled the land and collected tribute. Most economic activity was self-sufficient but there was some high-value trade organized by royal courts. Literate administrative officials were awarded with land grants that became hereditary property. The monarch retained ultimate ownership of all land.<ref name=":7">{{News citation|author=Ken Hammond|newspaper=[[Liberation School]]|title=Beyond the sprouts of capitalism: China’s early capitalist development and contemporary socialist project|date=2021-09-13|url=https://www.liberationschool.org/beyond-the-sprouts-of-capitalism-understanding-chinas-contemporary-socialist-project/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428004222/https://www.liberationschool.org/beyond-the-sprouts-of-capitalism-understanding-chinas-contemporary-socialist-project/|archive-date=2022-04-28|retrieved=2022-07-25}}</ref>

==== Imperial China ====
China transitioned from slavery to feudalism under the [[Zhou dynasty (1046 BCE–256 BCE)|Zhou]] and Qin dynasties, when government officials built up large land holdings. Under feudalism, almost all land was owned by the emperor, nobility, and landlords. Peasants had to give half or more of their crop to the landowners and landlords could abuse or kill peasants at will. Small landholders who farmed land distributed to them by the emperor also existed in this period. Exchange did not have an important role in the economy during this period.<ref>{{Citation|author=Mao Zedong|year=1939|title=The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party|chapter=Chinese Society|section=The Old Feudal Society|mia=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-2/mswv2_23.htm}}</ref> The number and location of markets were restricted and they were strictly controlled by the emperor.

In imperial China, government officials were recruited based on recommendations from serving officials, allowing aristocratic families to stay in power for generations. The Han dynasty collapsed in 220 CE and China was reunified under the [[Sui dynasty (581–618)|Sui]] and [[Tang dynasty (618–907)|Tang]] dynasties. The An Lushan rebellion from 755 to 763 weakened the Tang dynasty and reduced restrictions on markets. Peasants attacked estates and burned papers documenting the status of aristocrats. In 907, the Tang dynasty collapsed and several small states fought for power until the Zhao brothers established the [[Song dynasty (960–1279)|Song dynasty]] in 960.

Under the Song dynasty, a landed gentry emerged that outnumbered the nobility working for the emperor. Markets expanded and connected China to global trade networks. In the 12th century, the Jurchen invaded northern China and established their own dynasty, while the Song continued to rule in the south. The [[Great Mongol Nation (1206–1368)|Mongol Empire]] invaded China in the 13th century and established the Mongol-led [[Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)|Yuan dynasty]]. The Mongols engaged in international trade, but their anti-commercial policies reduced domestic commerce.

The Yuan dynasty was overthrown in 1368 after being weakened by disease and rebellions and the [[Ming dynasty (1368–1644)|Ming dynasty]] was founded. The first Ming emperor opposed the merchants and promoted a society based on agriculture and self-sufficiency. In 1644, the Manchus overthrew the Ming dynasty and established the [[Qing dynasty (1636–1912)|Qing dynasty]]. In 1793, the [[Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1801)|British]] sent a diplomatic mission to China to establish trade relations. The Qianlong emperor agreed to open a port for the British at Guangzhou but refused to give them access to all of China's ports.<ref name=":7" />

===Semi-colonial and semi-feudal society (1840–1949)===
The era of semi-colonial and semi-feudal society was divided into two parts: The Old Democratic Revolution, which began with the [[First Opium War]] in 1840 and ended with the May 4th Movement in 1919, and the New Democratic Revolution, which lasted until the founding of the People's Republic in 1949. This 109-year period is also know as the "century of humiliation".<ref name=":1" />

==== Old Democratic Revolution period (1840–1919) ====
[[File:Battle of Sanyuanli.png|thumb|Depiction of Chinese and [[British]] forces fighting in the First Opium War]]
The Old Democratic Revolution was a period of establishing western "democracy" and dismantling feudalism, which is where it gets its name from. Rather than being a revolutionary movement by the people of China, it was a revolutionary change caused by the invasion and occupation of China by western powers. It began with the First Opium War when the feudal [[Qing dynasty]] tried to restrict the drug trade of opium in China. The United Kingdom, and later the United States of America, responded by declaring war on China.<ref name=":1" />

The conditions during this occupation were terrible. Notably in the British settlement of Shanghai, signboards were hung up outside parks prohibiting Chinese and dogs inside. The occupying powers forced local Chinese to carry them from place to place, and they also engaged in [[foot binding]].<ref name=":1" />

==== New Democratic Revolution period (1919–1949) ====
The New Democratic Revolution was a revolution by the people of China against the weak Qing dynasty and the occupying Western powers. It is known as a democratic revolution because it still accepted the basic ideology of Western [[capitalism]], but it was different in that it rejected [[colonialism]] and was fought by the people themselves. This revolution successfully brought down the Qing dynasty and established the [[Republic of China]], but this state was even weaker than the Qing dynasty and most of the country was now ruled by warlords.<ref name=":1" />

At that time, China was one of the poorest societies in the world, plagued by starvation and feudal oppression. The vast majority of the population was engaged in subsistence agriculture, and a survey on the causes of death conducted in 1929-31 revealed that more than half of all deaths were caused by infectious diseases.<ref name=":2">David Hipgrave (2011). [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3484775/ ''Communicable disease control in China: From Mao to now'']. Journal of Global Health.</ref> Famines were widespread and severe periods of hunger were lived by many Chinese peasants. During this period, China also suffered from illiteracy and high inequality. Estimates from this period suggest that, landlords and rich peasants taken together typically owned upward of half the land even though their share in the population typically did not exceed 10 percent. Poor peasants and agricultural labourers who owned little to no land formed the majority of the population.<ref name=":3">Robin Burgess (2005). ''Mao's legacy: Access to land and hunger in Modern China''. The London School of Economics and Political Science. ([http://econ.lse.ac.uk/staff/rburgess/wp/land3.pdf PDF link])</ref>

Educational standards during this period were terrible, if not inexistent. In 1949, more than 80 per cent of China's population was illiterate. Enrollment rates in primary and middle schools were abysmal: 20 and 6 per cent, respectively.<ref name=":4">Kimberly Singer Babiarz, Karen Eggleston, Grant Miller & Qiong Zhang (2015). [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4331212/ An exploration of China's mortality decline under Mao: A provincial analysis, 1950–80]. </ref> In addition, women's rights were highly curtailed and patriarchal norms were widespread, and this culture kept growing as [[Kuomintang]] rule took root in the Taiwan province.<ref>{{Citation|title=Women under Kuomintang rule: Variations on the feminine mystique|author=Norma Diamond|year=1975|doi=10.1177/009770047500100101|publisher=University of Michigan}}</ref>

In 1925, the [[Empire of Japan]] and the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|U.K.]] sent troops to assist warlords in northern China. In 1926, the Northern Expeditionary Army of the CPC and Kuomintang defeated the warlords in Hebei province. On 1927 March 27, workers established a commune in [[Shanghai]], which was crushed by [[Chiang Kai-shek]] when the Kuomintang turned against the CPC. At this point, the CPC organized an uprising of 30,000 led by [[Zhou Enlai]] and [[Zhu De]] against the nationalist forces. In October 1927, Mao was sent to [[Hunan]] and organized the first revolutionary base in the Jinggang Mountains. Zhu De joined Mao's forces and they repelled three attacks from the Kuomintang between 1928 and 1931. The [[Chinese Red Army]] soon grew to 100,000 people.<ref name=":6">{{Web citation|newspaper=Banned Thought|title=Remembering the Chinese Revolution|url=https://www.bannedthought.net/India/PeoplesMarch/PM1999-2006/publications/50%20years/part1.htm|retrieved=2022-05-14}}</ref>

On 1931 September 18, Japanese forces attacked the northeastern city of [[Shenyang]]. The Kuomintang's army withdrew from the area and did not resist the Japanese. In 1932, a nationalist army of 500,000 was defeated by the Red Army. In October 1933, Chiang Kai-shek mustered a force of a million troops, forcing the CPC and Red Army to flee west to [[Zunyi]] in the [[Long March]]. At the party conference in Zunyi in 1935, Mao's military line was established and [[Opportunism|opportunists]] were removed from power. By the end of the Long March, the Red Army's forces had dropped from 300,000 to 30,000.<ref name=":6" />

===First Generation (1949–1976)===
[[File:Build a new China poster.png|thumb|250x250px|"Build a new China and make a great effort to forge ahead'''.'''"]]
[[File:Sino-SovietFriendshipPoster1951.jpg|thumb|229x229px|A Sino-Soviet Friendship poster from 1951]]
The first generation of leadership covers the extent of time that [[Zhou Enlai]] was the premier of the PRC. Mao Zedong was extremely influential in Chinese politics at this time, but he held the office Chairman of the PRC for only 9 years. For the rest of this 27 year long period, Mao Zedong was the General Secretary of the CPC. This generation was mainly characterized by Mao Zedong's political theory now known as [[Mao Zedong Thought]].<ref>''The historic contribution made by the first generation of the party's central collective leadership to the creation of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era'' (Chinese: [http://dangshi.people.com.cn/n/2013/1128/c85037-23683646.html 党的第一代中央领导集体为新时期开创中国特色社会主义所作的历史性贡献])</ref>

The first generation marks the founding of the People's Republic of China, an event captured on film.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvgLUGRhuwU Mao Zedong 毛泽东 declares the Peoples' Republic of China 1949]. YouTube. Retrieved 27 May 2021.</ref> The newly victorious socialist government promoted remarkable changes in Chinese society: establishing land reform, providing equal rights for women, seeing through campaigns for disease prevention and decreasing infant mortality.<ref name=":2" />

In 1958, China tried to end the U.S. occupation of [[Taiwan Province]] but had to retreat when the USA sent its nuclear-armed Seventh Fleet.<ref name=":1222">{{Citation|author=[[Vijay Prashad]]|year=2008|title=The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World|chapter=Havana|page=109|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzaceascnzh26r5d6uitjjs2z7rflhaxlt7rboz5whzdf76qg6xxvecqq?filename=%28A%20New%20Press%20People%27s%20history%29%20Vijay%20Prashad%20-%20The%20darker%20nations_%20a%20people%27s%20history%20of%20the%20third%20world-The%20New%20Press%20%282008%29.pdf|publisher=The New Press|isbn=9781595583420|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=9B40B96E830128A7FE0E0E887C06829F}}</ref>

==== Industrialization and collectivization ====
The land reforms led to the destruction of feudal [[relations of production]] in agriculture, leading to virtually universal access to land and a dramatic reduction in poverty and hunger.<ref name=":3" /> Education also improved dramatically in this period. During the 1950s, investments in primary and secondary school infrastructure increased considerably, and dramatic increases in attendance followed. Primary school enrollment rates rose to 80% by 1958 and to 97% by 1975, and secondary school rates increased to 46% by 1977.<ref name=":4" />

During this period, China's growth in life expectancy ranks as among the most rapid sustained increases in documented global history,<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Citation|title=Health system in China|author=David Hipgrave, Yan Mu|year=2018|doi=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8715-3_42}}</ref> mainly because of the socialist government's radical commitment to the elimination of poverty and to improving living conditions of the people; an effort which has brought the elimination of widespread hunger, illiteracy, and ill health, remarkable reduction in chronic undernourishment and child mortality, and a dramatic expansion of longevity.<ref name=":5">Amartya Kumar Sen (2006). ''Perspectives on the Economic and Human Development of India and China''. Universitätsverlag Göttingen. ISBN: 978-3-938616-63-5</ref> Systematic efforts to vaccinate the population against polio, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, scarlet fever, cholera and other diseases were rapid and reputedly successful, virtually eradicating smallpox within the span of only three years.<ref name=":4" />

==== Great Leap Forward ====
Even though China achieved many positive changes in society, the first generation has experienced problems in their governance, most notably during the [[Great Leap Forward]], which was a colossal failure, contributing to the Great Chinese Famine, which had major long-term effects on health and economic development in China, leading to reduced population height, and having a negative impact on labor supply and earnings of famine survivors.<ref>{{Citation|title=The long-term health and economic consequences of the 1959-1961 famine in China|year=2007|author=Yuyu Chen, Li-An Zhou|publisher=Journal of Health Economics|doi=10.1016/j.jhealeco.2006.12.006}}</ref>

==== Sino-Soviet split ====
In the 1970s, China had an opportunistic foreign policy and frequently sided with the United States against the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet Union]]. It supported the [[Hellenic Republic|Greek]] [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]<ref>{{Citation|author=William Blum|year=1995|title=Killing Hope|chapter=|section=|page=219|quote=|pdf=|city=Monroe|publisher=|isbn=1567510523|doi=|lg=|mia=|title-url=https://archive.org/details/killinghopeusmil00blum_0/page/219/mode/2up|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref> junta and [[Islamic Republic of Pakistan|Pakistan]]'s war against [[People's Republic of Bangladesh|Bangladesh]] and quickly recognized [[Augusto Pinochet|Pinochet]]'s dictatorship in [[Republic of Chile|Chile]].<ref name=":12222">{{Citation|author=[[Vijay Prashad]]|year=2008|title=The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World|chapter=Tawang|page=174|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzaceascnzh26r5d6uitjjs2z7rflhaxlt7rboz5whzdf76qg6xxvecqq?filename=%28A%20New%20Press%20People%27s%20history%29%20Vijay%20Prashad%20-%20The%20darker%20nations_%20a%20people%27s%20history%20of%20the%20third%20world-The%20New%20Press%20%282008%29.pdf|publisher=The New Press|isbn=9781595583420|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=9B40B96E830128A7FE0E0E887C06829F}}</ref>

==== Cultural Revolution ====
Another campaign, the [[Cultural Revolution|Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution]] resulted in overzealous local cadres taking the situation out of control, destroying sites of heritage and recklessly denouncing people in their community.{{Helper}}

===Second Generation (1976–1992)===
The second generation of leadership covers the extent of time that [[Deng Xiaoping]] was influential in Chinese politics. Deng Xiaoping only held two positions of power during this time: Chair of the Central Military Commission of the PRC for four years, and Chair of the Central Military Commission of the CPC for 8 years. For the rest of this 16 year long period, Deng Xiaoping held no positions of power but was still considered the most influential figure in Chinese politics. This generation was mainly characterized by the development of [[Socialism with Chinese Characteristics|Socialism with Chinese characteristics]].<ref>''The whole process of the formation of the central collective leadership with Deng Xiaoping as the core''. (Chinese: [http://dangshi.people.com.cn/n/2013/0608/c85037-21793779.html 邓小平为核心的中央领导集体形成始末])</ref>

The [[Reform and Opening Up]] programs introduced in this period produced impressive results. The Chinese economy saw a rapid expansion in both investment and consumption, rapid rises in both productivity and the wage rate, and rapid increases in job creation, which provided the necessary material conditions for broader social development, including the reconstruction of a publicly-funded healthcare system and acceleration of the process of urbanization.<ref>{{Citation|title=State-owned enterprises in Chinese economic transformation: Institutional functionality and credibility in alternative perspectives|year=2020|author=Dic Lo|publisher=Journal of Economic Issues|doi=10.1080/00213624.2020.1791579}}</ref>

Inspired by [[Mikhail Gorbachev|Gorbachyov]] in the Soviet Union, [[Zhao Ziyang]] and his [[Opportunism|right-opportunist]] clique attempted to restore capitalism in the late 1980s.<ref>{{Web citation|date=2022-12-24|title=Red Theory: The achievements of socialism in China|url=https://www.fightbacknews.org/2022/12/24/red-theory-achievements-socialism-china|newspaper=[[Fight Back! News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123044644/https://www.fightbacknews.org/2022/12/24/red-theory-achievements-socialism-china|archive-date=2023-01-23|retrieved=2023-02-05|author=J. Sykes}}</ref> The CIA and its cut-out, the [[National Endowment for Democracy|NED]], attempted a [[1989 Tian'anmen Square riots|color revolution in 1989]] and lynched unarmed [[People's Liberation Army|PLA]] soldiers before being defeated.<ref name=":02">{{News citation|author=Tom|newspaper=Mango Press|title=The Tian'anmen Square 'Massacre': The West's Most Persuasive, Most Pervasive Lie|date=2021-06-04|url=https://www.mango-press.com/the-tiananmen-square-massacre-the-wests-most-persuasive-most-pervasive-lie/|retrieved=2022-04-21}}</ref><ref name=":52">{{News citation|author=[[Brian Becker]]|newspaper=[[Liberation School]]|title=Tiananmen: The Massacre that Wasn’t|date=2014-06-13|url=https://www.liberationschool.org/tiananmen-the-massacre-that-wasnt/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220102183128/https://www.liberationschool.org/tiananmen-the-massacre-that-wasnt/|archive-date=2022-01-02|retrieved=2022-06-20}}</ref><ref name=":42">{{News citation|author=Milton James|newspaper=Critical Social Work Publishing House|title=1989 Tiananmen Square "Student Massacre" was a hoax|date=2020-07-08|url=https://www.criticalsocialworkpublishinghouse.com/post/1989-tiananmen-square-student-massacre-was-a-hoax|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321183536/https://www.criticalsocialworkpublishinghouse.com/post/1989-tiananmen-square-student-massacre-was-a-hoax|archive-date=2022-03-21|retrieved=2022-06-05}}</ref>

===Third Generation (1992–2002) ===
The third generation of leadership covers the extent of time that [[Jiang Zemin]] was president of the PRC.<ref>''The top priority of the third generation of collective leadership''.(Chinese: [http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/33839/34943/34944/34947/2617549.html 第三代领导集体的当务之急])</ref> It was mainly characterized by Jiang Zemin's political theory known as the [[Three Represents]].<ref>''What is the scientific meaning of "Three Represents"?'' (Chinese:[http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/64156/64157/4418474.html “三个代表”的科学含义是什么？])</ref>

The Three Represents theory refers to the following:

#Representing the development trend of China’s advanced productive forces.
#Representing the orientation of China's advanced culture.
#Representing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people.

=== Fourth Generation (2002–2012)===
The fourth generation of leadership covers the extent of time when [[Hu Jintao]] was the president of the PRC and [[Wen Jiabo]] was premier. It was mainly characterized by Hu Jintao's political theory known as the [[scientific outlook on development]].

===Fifth Generation (2012–present)===
The fifth generation of leadership covers the extent of time that Xi Jinping has been the president of the PRC, and that Li Keqiang has been the premier.<ref>''The fifth generation of collective leadership in China'' (Chinese: [https://www.cqwcsy.com/news/55559/ 中国第五代领导集体])</ref> A key component of Xi's leadership is his administration's ongoing crackdown and cleaning out of CIA and other [[Capital|capitalist]] orgs penetration of the CPC and wider Chinese society.<ref>''China Used Stolen Data To Expose CIA Operatives In Africa And Europe'' [https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/12/21/china-stolen-us-data-exposed-cia-operatives-spy-networks/]</ref>

The biggest project of the fifth generation of leadership has been the [[Belt and Road Initiative]]. Other endeavors made during this generation include the Chinese Space Station, the Two Centennial Goals, and Green Development.

The main political contribution made during the fifth generation has been [[Xi Jinping Thought]] but other contributions have been made such as the [[Core Socialist Values]] and the [[Chinese Dream]].

== Administrative divisions==
[[File:China_administrative_regions.svg|thumb|alt=|Map of China with its administrative divisions at a province-level.]]
China has 34 province-level divisions: 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities directly under the Central Government, and 2 special administrative region.<ref>Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China [https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/ljzg_665465/zgjk_665467/3572_665469/t1140993.shtml Administrative Division System]</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!Seat of Government
!Area (100,000 km<sup>2</sup>)
!Population (100,000)
|-
|[[Beijing|Beijing Municipality]]
|[[Beijing]]
|0.168
|125.7
|-
|[[Tianjin|Tianjin Municipality]]
|[[Tianjin]]
|0.113
|95.9
|-
|[[Hebei|Hebei Province]]
|[[Shijiazhuang]]
|1.900
| 661.4
|-
|[[Shanxi|Shanxi Province]]
|[[Taiyuan]]
|1.560
|320.4
|-
|[[Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region]]
|[[Hohhot]]
|11.830
|236.2
|-
|[[Liaoning|Liaoning Province]]
|[[Shenyang]]
|1.457
|417.1
|-
|[[Jilin|Jilin Province]]
|[[Changchun]]
|1.870
| 265.8
|-
|[[Heilongjiang|Heilongjiang Province]]
|[[Harbin]]
|4.690
|379.2
|-
|[[Shanghai|Shanghai Municipality]]
|[[Shanghai]]
|0.062
|147.4
|-
|[[Jiangsu|Jiangsu Province]]
|[[Nanjing]]
|1.026
|721.3
|-
|[[Zhejiang|Zhejiang Province]]
|[[Hangzhou]]
|1.018
|447.5
|-
|[[Anhui|Anhui Province]]
|[[Hefei]]
|1.390
|623.7
|-
|[[Fujian|Fujian Province]]
|[[Fuzhou]]
|1.200
|331.6
|-
|[[Jiangxi|Jiangxi Province]]
|[[Nanchang]]
|1.666
|423.1
|-
|[[Shandong|Shandong Province]]
|[[Jinan]]
|1.530
|888.3
|-
|[[Henan|Henan Province]]
|[[Zhengzhou]]
|1.670
|938.7
|-
|[[Hubei|Hubei Province]]
|[[Wuhan]]
|1.874
|593.8
|-
|[[Hunan|Hunan Province]]
|[[Changsha]]
|2.100
|653.2
|-
|[[Guangdong|Guangdong Province]]
|[[Guangzhou]]
|1.860
|727.0
|-
|[[Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region|Guangxi Autonomous Region]]
|[[Nanning]]
|2.363
|471.3
|-
|[[Hainan|Hainan Province]]
|[[Haikou]]
|0.340
|76.2
|-
|[[Chongqing|Chongqing Municipality]]
|[[Chongqing]]
|0.820
|307.5
|-
|[[Sichuan|Sichuan Province]]
|[[Chengdu]]
|4.880
|855.0
|-
|[[Guizhou|Guizhou Province]]
|[[Guiyang]]
|1.700
|371.0
|-
|[[Yunnan|Yunnan Province]]
|[[Kunming]]
|3.940
|419.2
|-
|[[Tibet Autonomous Region]]
|[[Lhasa]]
|12.200
|25.6
|-
|[[Shaanxi|Shaanxi Province]]
|[[Xi'an]]
|2.050
|361.8
|-
|[[Gansu|Gansu Province]]
|[[Lanzhou]]
|4.500
|254.3
|-
|[[Qinghai|Qinghai Province]]
|[[Xining]]
|7.200
|51.0
|-
|[[Ningxia Autonomous Region]]
|[[Yinchuan]]
|0.664
|54.3
|-
|[[Xinjiang Autonomous Region]]
|[[Ürümqi]]
|16.000
|177.4
|-
|[[Hong Kong Special Administrative Region]]
|[[Hong Kong]]
|0.01092
|68.4
|-
|[[Macao Special Administrative Region]]
|[[Macao]]
|0.00024
|4.3
|-
|[[Taiwan Province]]
|[[Taipei]] (occupied by [[United States imperialism|US imperialists]])
|0.360
|217.4
|}

==Pro-worker economy==
China operates what it calls [[Socialism with Chinese Characteristics]], often referred to as the [[Socialist market economy]] by Chinese leaders.<ref>Sam-Kee Cheng (2020). ''Primitive socialist accumulation in China: An alternative view on the anomalies of Chinese “capitalism”.'' {{Doi|10.1177/0486613419888298}}</ref> In this system, China maintains state ownership of large industries and those that they deem vital to China's security while facilitating a market driven development of medium and small enterprises. Firms that would otherwise be monopolies in China are ran as what is called a State Owned Enterprise (SOE). SOE's often participate in markets and sometimes function much like a private firm with the key difference being China controls strategic resources such as rare earth minerals as well as silicon chips, which are both valuable to high-technology industries.<ref>https://youtu.be/jlShNCKx8rw</ref>[[File:WorkersCongressChina.jpg|thumb|A workers' congress meeting]]
Factory workers in China (in both the public and private sector) have the ability to join workers' congresses, which grant them control over wage adjustments, supervision of leadership and election of the factory director.<ref>https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/china-and-russia-have-workers-councils-but-not-chattanooga/</ref><ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/d1u77y/workers_councils_in_china/</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20220610093819/https://twitter.com/isgoodrum/status/1043159032935006208</ref> SOE congresses have decidedly more power than private enterprises. In 2005, a study released regarding the influence of workers' congresses and Chinese unions analyzed the effects of companies that had unions or no unions. When surveyed, the worker satisfaction along the metrics of greater worker rights, greater wages and greater abilities to settle conflicts in favour of workers. It was found that generally speaking, worker satisfaction was higher than in companies without them. And the same study claims around 80% of all companies have some form of workers union on board. Worker's participation however, is not mandatory in these unions and those who do not wish to unionize are not required to have a union.<ref>[https://bellschool.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/IPS/PSC/CCC/publications/papers/Anita_Staff_and_Workers_Rep_Congress_pdf.pdf ZHU XIAOYANG AND ANITA CHAN - Staff and Workers’ Representative Congress An Institutionalized Channel for Expression of Employees’ Interests?]</ref> A similar 2004 study found that these workers' congresses were able to dismiss managers when they failed to get more than 60% votes of confidence, and that it was possible for these unions to significantly improve health and safety conditions, or to fairly distribute new housing benefits.<ref>[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269496596_The_Internal_Politics_of_an_Urban_Chinese_Work_Community_A_Case_Study_of_Employee_Influence_on_Decision-Making_at_a_State-Owned_Factory The Internal Politics of an Urban Chinese Work Community: A Case Study of Employee Influence on Decision-Making at a State-Owned Factory]</ref>

In 2012, the number of unions in SOEs were 88.1% and in non-SOEs to be around 85.5%. It also states that within Chinese companies 32.7% of employee representatives at the company and plant level are nominated and elected directly from employees, while 61% of them are nominated by the Party committees and elected by employees. The same study finds that workers' congresses are positively associated with better health and safety, and more likely to report issues or flaws within company structure, as well as a useful consultation method that better leveraged worker voices towards the higher ups.<ref>[https://fbr.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s11782-018-0033-y#Sec8 The perceived effectiveness of democratic management, job performance, and citizenship behavior: evidence from a large Chinese state-owned petrochemical company]- Fuxi Wang</ref> In a study done by the OECD in 2013, survey of employment protection legislation found that China’s legislation ranked as the most protective of the forty-three countries surveyed.<ref>Curtis Milhaupt and Wentong Zheng, “Beyond Ownership: State Capitalism and the Chinese Firm,” Georgetown Law Journal 103 (2015): 665-717.</ref> The CPC has therefore made tremendous efforts to meet the demands of local protests and strikes as well as hold local governments accountable for causing or mishandling protests that spin out of control. Chinese workers have successfully organized collective action to get local governments, and the courts as mentioned above, to help accommodate their claims, most notably getting payment for wage arrears.<ref>Su and He, “Street as Courtroom: State Accommodation of Labor Protests in South China.”</ref> Similarly, a study in 2009 found that more often than not, the arbitration tribunals in mainland China are biased in favor of employees suing their employers. Because arbitration tribunals are sympathetic towards employees-who are traditionally seen as the weaker party-they will sometimes overlook acontract violation by the employee. In addition, sometimes tribunals assume that companies can bear the financial losses more readily than employees. Therefore, more often than not, employees win in arbitration or in court based on prejudice in their favor.<ref>Joanna Law, Employers, Prepare for Tribunal Trouble, CHINA LAW & PRACTICE, Feb. 2009</ref>

The book ''A New Deal for China's Workers'' (released in 2016) states that,<ref>[https://dokumen.pub/qdownload/a-new-deal-for-chinas-workers-2016017881-9780674971394.html Conclusion, Page 220 - <small>A New Deal for China’s Workers? 2016017881, 9780674971394</small>]</ref><blockquote>"In enacting the LCL, and in doubling down on its employment protections by restricting the use of labor dispatch, China is swimming against both a modest liberalizing current in parts of the developed world and deeper trends toward declining job tenure, splintering of work organizations, outsourcing of production, and contingent work arrangements. The continuing slide from long-term employment within integrated firms toward a “gig” economy, though celebrated by some, has potentially dire consequences for workers who risk losing the entire panoply of rights, protections, and benefits that twentieth-century reforms had attached to the employment relationship. But China is seeking to defy that trend, and to shore up job security and stability."</blockquote>Though trying to portray the CPC in a negative light here, it still admits that the CPC opposes and seeks to ensure better job security and stability compared to the Capitalist nations of the West. Defying a gig economy and seeking to double down on employment protection has done far more than the rest of the "developed world" in securing and defending the rights of the working class.

China also has a vibrant worker co-operative model of ownership. Worker co-operatives are trading enterprises, owned and run by the people who work in them, who have an equal say in what the business does, and an equitable share in the wealth created from the products and services they provide, with 48% of all rural households in China being apart of a co-operative.<ref>[https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1004505/how-village-co-ops-are-remapping-chinas-rural-communities How Village Co-Ops are remapping China's rural community]</ref> In 2017, there were 30,281 primary (village-level) supply and marketing cooperatives (SMCs), 2,402 country-level federations of SMCs, 342 city-level federations of SMCs, 32 provincial-level federations of SMCs, 21,852 cooperative enterprises and 280 cooperative institutes represented by ACFSMC (All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives). There were 3.4 million employees in all SMCs represented by ACFSMC.<ref>[https://coops4dev.coop/en/4devasia/china China, #CoopsForDev]</ref> About 95% of towns and villages have a SMC as of 2019, compared to 50% a mere 6 years ago.<ref>[https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/2184810/can-china-get-its-farmers-back-track-us400-million-fund-state Xi Jinping turns to Mao Zedong era system to get rid of poverty] </ref> The cooperative sector continues to grow, China's supply and marketing system will realize sales of agricultural products of 2.7591 trillion yuan and daily necessities of 1.4925 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.3% and 17.1% respectively. A recruitment notice stated that in 2023, the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives plans to take the examination and recruit staff from the agency. Outstanding young people who are interested in joining the supply and marketing cooperatives are welcome to apply for the examination.<ref>[https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20221102-1329090 Afternoon inspection: Supply and marketing cooperatives come back?] - Zaobao.sg</ref>

China also has great democratic management in the workplace, with positive associations with workers' hourly wages, fringe benefits, and firms' labor productivity on average, suggesting that it is not merely ‘window-dressing’ as perceived by conventional wisdom.<ref>[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1748-8583.12471 What does democratic management do in Chinese workplaces? Evidence from matched employer–employee data] </ref> Chinese workers have also had higher wage increases, doubling between 2008 and 2019, compared to emerging G20 countries with a 3.5-4.5% annual growth. And in advanced G20 countries with 0.4-0.9% annual growth.<ref>[https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_762302.pdf ILO- International Wage Report]</ref> Chinese workers having greater rights even extend to the ability to imprison their own boss in their office, with the police intervening on behalf of the workers.<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/mitchfree/2013/07/11/held-hostage-entrepreneurs-uneasy-over-chinese-govt-inaction/?sh=2e05c17863de Held Hostage: Entrepreneurs' uneasy over Chinese government inaction - Forbes]</ref>

As of January 2023, The People's Republic of China has an overall historic unemployment rate of around 4-5%,<ref>[https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/CHN/china/unemployment-rate China unemployment rate 1991 - 2023], macrotrends</ref> compared to the [[Statesian]] historic unemployment rate of around 5-6%.<ref>[https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/unemployment-rate US Unemployment Rates 1991 - 2023], macrotrends</ref> This is high in comparison to the economy of, for example, the USSR, which generally had stable employment opportunities for young workers, and also had an unemployment rate of about 1%.<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=1991 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK|title=Soviet Union Economy - 1991|date=1991|url=https://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_economy.html|retrieved=2022-7-9}}</ref>

Although GDP growth was at its peak in the 1960s, China experiences consistent GDP growth, and China outpaces the US in terms of GDP growth.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=macrotrends|title=China GDP Growth Rate 1961-2022|date=2022|url=https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/CHN/china/gdp-growth-rate|retrieved=2022-12-06}}</ref>

=== Mode of production ===
Currently, China is in the primary stage of [[socialism]]. This is a stage which is expected to last until the 100th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, in 2049, and this stage is intended to unleash the [[productive forces]] of China to the point where socialism is superior in terms of productivity in contrast to the capitalist mode of production.<ref>{{Citation|author=Deng Xiaoping|year=1987|title=To Uphold Socialism We Must Eliminate Poverty|title-url=https://dengxiaopingworks.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/to-uphold-socialism-we-must-eliminate-poverty/|mia=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/deng-xiaoping/1987/133.htm}}</ref>

==Governance==

=== Healthcare===
In the Mao period, China built one of the developing world's most robust public healthcare systems, based on rural primary care, [[barefoot doctors]], and regular mass campaigns, known as "patriotic health campaigns." Since the beginning of the reform period, China's healthcare system has gone through a number of phases. After an unfortunate period of regression and privatization, China has spent the last decade making rapid progress towards a new universal healthcare system. A 2020 study in the ''British Medical Journal (BMJ)'' summarizes many of the goals and programs of China's recent health reforms:<blockquote>Priority was given to expanding the scope and health service package of the basic insurance coverage, improving provider payment mechanisms, as well as increasing the financing level, fiscal subsidies and reimbursement rates. [...] The government has increased investment in primary care, with initiatives that include strengthening the infrastructure of primary healthcare (PHC) facilities, expanding human resources for primary care through incentives and supporting projects, establishing a general practitioner system and improving the capacity of PHC personnel through training and education, such as general practice training and continuous medical education programmes. [...] The ‘equalization of basic public health services’ policy implemented the national BPHS programme and the crucial public health service (CPHS) programme. [...] This policy seeks to achieve universal availability and promote a more equitable provision of basic health services to all urban and rural citizens.<ref>Wenjuan Tao, Zhi Zeng, et al. ''Towards universal health coverage: lessons from 10 years of healthcare reform in China.'' BMJ Global Health. {{Doi|10.1136/bmjgh-2019-002086}}</ref></blockquote>The study goes on to note that China has made significant progress towards meeting its reform goals, and building a developed and equitable universal healthcare system:<blockquote>During the past 10 years since the latest round of healthcare reform, China made steady progress in achieving the reform goals and UHC [i.e. universal health coverage].</blockquote>Another paper, also from the ''BMJ,'' summarizes the recent improvements in China's health outcomes, as well as access to, and cost of, healthcare:<blockquote>The results include the following: out-of-pocket expenditures as a percentage of current health expenditures in China have dropped dramatically from 60.13% in 2000 to 35.91% in 2016; the health insurance coverage of the total population jumped from 22.1% in 2003 to 95.1% in 2013; the average life expectancy increased from 72.0 to 76.4, maternal mortality dropped from 59 to 29 per 100 000 live births, the under-5 mortality rate dropped from 36.8 to 9.3 per 1000 live births, and neonatal mortality dropped from 21.4 to 4.7 per 1000 live births between 2000 and 2017; and so on.<ref>Wenjuan Tao, Zhi Zeng, et al. ''Towards universal health coverage: achievements and challenges of 10 years of healthcare reform in China.'' BMJ Global Health. {{Doi|10.1136/bmjgh-2019-002087}}</ref></blockquote>In short, while China's healthcare system is not perfect, it is certainly moving in the right direction. As with many other aspects of China's socialist construction, this provides a model for other developing nations; according to the aforementioned ''BMJ'' study:<blockquote>The lessons learnt from China could help other nations improve UHC in sustainable and adaptive ways, including continued political support, increased health financing and a strong PHC system as basis. The experience of the rapid development of UHC in China can provide a valuable mode for countries (mainly LMICs) planning their own path further on in the UHC journey.</blockquote>This is another benefit of China's rise to prominence on the world stage. China demonstrates to the world that it is possible for a desperately poor country to rise from poverty, develop its economy, and meet the needs of its people.

===Democracy and popular opinion===
Polls conducted by Western researchers have consistently found that the Chinese people have a high level of support for their government, and for the Communist Party. A 2020 analysis by the China Data Lab (based at UC San Diego) found that support for the government has been increasing as of late.<ref>Lei Guang, Margaret Roberts, Yiqing Xu and Jiannan Zhao (2020). ''[http://chinadatalab.ucsd.edu/viz-blog/pandemic-sees-increase-in-chinese-support-for-regime-decrease-in-views-towards-us/ Pandemic sees Increase in Chinese support for regime, decrease in views towards the U.S.]'' China Data Lab.</ref> Similar results were found in a 2016 survey done by Harvard University's Ash Center:<blockquote>The survey team found that compared to public opinion patterns in the U.S., in China there was very high satisfaction with the central government. In 2016, the last year the survey was conducted, 95.5 percent of respondents were either “relatively satisfied” or “highly satisfied” with Beijing. In contrast to these findings, Gallup reported in January of this year that their latest polling on U.S. citizen satisfaction with the American federal government revealed only 38 percent of respondents were satisfied with the federal government.<ref>Dan Harsha (2020). ''[https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/07/long-term-survey-reveals-chinese-government-satisfaction/ Taking China’s pulse].'' The Harvard Gazette.</ref></blockquote>It is worth noting that the Chinese people are significantly less satisfied with local government than they are with the central government. Still, these results disprove the common notion that the Chinese people are ruled by an iron fisted regime that they do not want. Indeed, one official from the Ash Center noted that their findings "run counter to the general idea that these people are marginalized and disfavored by policies." As he states:<blockquote>We tend to forget that for many in China, and in their lived experience of the past four decades, each day was better than the next.</blockquote>In addition, most Chinese people are satisfied with the level of democracy in the PRC. A 2018 study in the ''International Political Science Review'' notes that "surveys suggest that the majority of Chinese people feel satisfied with the level of democracy in China." However, the study notes that "people who hold liberal democratic values" are more likely to be dissatisfied with the state of democracy in China. By contrast, those who hold a "substantive" view of democracy (i.e. one based on the idea that the state should focus on providing for the material needs of the people) are more satisfied.<ref>Yida Zhai (2018). ''Popular conceptions of democracy and democratic satisfaction in China''. International Political Science Review. {{Doi|10.1177/0192512118757128}}</ref>

While the Chinese government contains authoritarian elements, it also has elements of genuine democracy. An example of this may be found in the National People's Congress, China's primary legislative body. While Western media has typically labeled the NPC as a simple rubberstamping body for the Central Committee, the facts indicate that this is not entirely true. A 2016 study in the ''Journal of Legislative Studies'' found that the NPC "is no longer a minimal or ‘rubber-stamp’ legislature," noting that "the NPC does play an important role in the whole political system, especially in legislation, though the NPC has typically been under the control of China's Communist Party."<ref>{{Citation|title=Is the label ‘minimal legislature’ still appropriate? The role of the National People's Congress in China's political system|year=2016|author=Wenbo Chen|publisher=The Journal of Legislative Studies|doi=10.1080/13572334.2015.1134909}}</ref>

Many of the other claims surrounding authoritarianism in China are highly overblown, to say the least. For instance, an [https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/11/16/chinas-orwellian-social-credit-score-isnt-real/ article] in ''Foreign Policy'' (the most orthodox of liberal policy journals) notes that the Chinese [[Social Credit System|social credit system]] was massively exaggerated and distorted in Western media. An [https://www.wired.com/story/china-social-credit-score-system/ article] in the publication ''Wired'' discusses how many of these overblown perceptions came to be. None of this is to suggest that China is a perfect democracy, with zero flaws; it certainly has issues relating to transparency, treatment of prisoners, etc. That being said, it is far from the [[Totalitarianism|totalitarian]] nightmare that [[Imperialism|imperialist]] media generally depicts it as being.

===Public ownership===
{{Main article|Socialist market economy}}
Contrary to the popular perception that China's growth has been the result of a transition to capitalism, the evidence shows that public ownership continues to play a key growth-driving role in the PRC's economy. According to the aforementioned 2020 study in the ''Review of Radical Political Economics'', "strategic industries, which [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] called 'the commanding heights of economy,' are still state-owned and have played a very important role in China’s economic development."<ref>{{Citation|title=Primitive Socialist Accumulation in China: An Alternative View on the Anomalies of Chinese “Capitalism”|volume=52|year=2020|page=693–715|series=Review of Radical Political Economics|author=Sam-Kee Cheng|publisher=SAGE Publishing|doi=10.1177/0486613419888298}}</ref> The author notes that "after decades of market reform, China’s state sector, rather than disappearing or being marginalized, has become a leader in strategic sectors and the driver of its investment-led growth." To learn more, we would recommend the book ''The Basic Economic System of China'', which goes into this issue in much more depth.<ref>{{Citation|isbn=978-981-13-6895-0|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=07DE5CA4B3F3C14139975D1A9D668FC8|author=Changhong Pei, Chunxue Yang, Xinming Yang|year=2019|title=The Basic Economic System of China.|publisher=Springer Singapore|series=China Governance System Research Series|doi=10.1007/978-981-13-6895-0}}</ref>

Even after the economic reforms, China's public ownership sector remained great, according to the paper ''"China’s Collective and Private Enterprises: Growth and Its Financing"'' by Shahid Yusuf, during 1985-1991, on average only around 7.1 % of the Industrial Sector was actually private (started by entrepreneurs and foreign businesses).<ref>[https://www.elibrary.imf.org/display/book/9781557753809/ch012.xml#Rch12tab02 China’s Collective and Private Enterprises: Growth and Its Financing, Table 2] by Shahid Yusuf</ref> And during 1991, the national industrial sector only had around 11.41% being truly private.<ref>[https://www.elibrary.imf.org/display/book/9781557753809/ch012.xml#Rch12tab15 China’s Collective and Private Enterprises: Growth and Its Financing, Table 15 by Shahid Yusuf]</ref>

In the University Paper, ''Is China still Socialist'' by Khoo Heikoo, their research goes into detail of the market share of the economy. In 2010, at least 94% of all financial capital and revenue is owned by SOE's out of 150 largest companies in China.<ref>[https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/files/136790902/2018_Khoo_Heiko_1068757_ethesis.pdf Page 86, Is China still socialist? A Marxist critique of János Kornai’s analysis of China] - Khoo, Heikoo.</ref> In the University paper, ''The Rise of the Investor State: State Capital in the Chinese Economy'' by Hao Chen and Meg Rithmere discusses how state shareholders can influence the private sector. With the overall ownership of investment firms in 2017 being 80.9% central state owned, 13.7% local state owned and only 4.67% being truly private. The paper also goes on to state:<ref>[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12116-020-09308-3 The Rise of the Investor State: State Capital in the Chinese Economy] - Hao Chen and Meg Rithmire</ref><blockquote>

"The state’s role as owner of firms has narrowed to include a set of large, national champion firms at the central level, but the deployment of state capital has morphed form rather than abated. As we have shown, the state invests broadly in the private sector in a number of forms, a fact that complicates the “state versus private” dichotomy that has dominated the study of China’s political economy during the reform era. Further, the deployment of state capital into the wider economy has accompanied a change in the structure of the state; hundreds of shareholding firms, large and small and owned by local and central levels of the state, now interface extensively with private firms, can intervene with ease in stock markets, and appear to constitute new agents in the execution of the CCP’s overall economic policy."</blockquote>''The Ascendency of State-owned Enterprises in China: development, controversy and problems'' by Hong Yu also states:<ref>[http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2013.809990 Hong Yu (2014) The Ascendency of State-owned Enterprises in China: development, controversy and problems, Journal of Contemporary China], 23:85, 161-182, DOI: 10.1080/10670564.2013.809990</ref><blockquote>"In terms of total sales revenue of China’s top 100 enterprises in 2011, the SOEs accounted for around 90%. The state sector remains the driving force behind economic development in China. All the big commercial banks in China are SOEs. More importantly, given the fact that township and village enterprises (TVEs) owned by local governments belong to the state sector but are not regarded as SOEs, and a large number of entities operating inside and outside of China are actually owned or controlled indirectly via SOEs’ subsidiaries, the true size of the SOEs is unknown. Their influence is far greater than official statistics suggest. Woetzel’s study also demonstrates that many firms, which were partially privatized but with the state remaining as a majority shareholder, have not been counted in the SOE category in official statistics."</blockquote>In 2014, China's top 500, 300 are SOEs, accounting for 60 percent. The operating revenues of these SOEs account for 79.9 percent of the total 56.68 trillion yuan, while total assets account for 91.2 percent, out of the total 176.4 trillion yuan. The total profit of these SOEs account for 83.9 percent out of the total 2.4 trillion yuan<ref>[http://www.china.org.cn/business/2014-09/03/content_33419397.htm China reveals new top 500 enterprises list] - Wang Zhiyong, China.org.cn</ref> In 2006, The report revealed that 349 enterprises in the list were state owned, accounting for nearly 70 percent of the total. Their combined assets reached 39 trillion yuan (4.87 trillion US dollars) at the end of 2005, accounting for 95 percent of the total. It showed that state-owned economy remained dominant and controls the leading industries in the national economy.<ref>[https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2006-09/03/content_680098_2.htm Top 500 account for 78% of China's GDP] - Biz.China, Xinhua.net</ref>

Even in the 1990s after Reform and Opening Up, the ''OECD Agricultural Outlook/June - July 1999'' discuss how the state maintains control of the agricultural sector<blockquote>“Before 1980, government central planning dominated domestic grain marketing. The government’s Grain Bureau purchased, transported, stored, milled, and retailed all grain leaving the farm. Then in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, open markets became increasingly important as the government was no longer the sole purchaser and many provinces began phasing out a ration system that allowed urban consumers to purchase grain at low fixed prices (AO March 1997). But current grain policy, initiated in 1998, '''led to a reversal of the use of open markets for domestic distribution and an increase in government intervention in grain production and marketing'''''.'' This relatively recent return to intervention in the domestic market has led to higher grain output and reduced demand for imports.”</blockquote>And then proceeds to state in ''OECD Agricultural Policy Reform in China 2005'' <ref>[https://www.oecd.org/china/oecdreviewofagriculturalpolicies-china.htm OECD Review of Agricultural Policies - China] ISBN: 9789264012608 </ref>p6 states <blockquote>“Total support to China’s agricultural sector reached USD 41 billion per year in 2000-2003 which is equivalent to 3.3% of China’s GDP in this period. This percentage is much higher than the OECD average and suggests a relatively high burden of agricultural support on the Chinese economy.”</blockquote>Agriculture in China whilst dominated by private family production units at the micro level is dominated by state purchase and distribution at the macro level. This ensures that China is able to feed itself and that supplies of essential grains reach the entire national consumer market. Imports and exports of grain are determined by the state and implemented by its organizations, thus contrary to appearances, Chinese agriculture is dominated by the state.

And in 2009, Derrick Scissors of the Heritage Foundation lays the issue to rest in an article called “Liberalization in Reverse.” He writes:<blockquote>"Examining what companies are truly private is important because privatization is often confused with the spreading out of shareholding and the sale of minority stakes. In China, 100 percent state ownership is often diluted by the division of ownership into shares, some of which are made available to nonstate actors, such as foreign companies or other private investors. Nearly two-thirds of the state-owned enterprises and subsidiaries in China have undertaken such changes, leading some foreign observers to relabel these firms as “nonstate” or even “private.” But this reclassification is incorrect. The sale of stock does nothing by itself to alter state control: dozens of enterprises are no less state controlled simply because they are listed on foreign stock exchanges. As a practical matter, three-quarters of the roughly 1,500 companies listed as domestic stocks are still state owned. "<ref name=":10">[https://www.heritage.org/global-politics/commentary/liberalization-reverse Derek Scissors, Ph.D. “Liberalization in Reverse,” May 4, 2009, Published by The Heritage Foundation]</ref> </blockquote>He also goes onto further elaborate sectors of the economy that the CPC have not once relinquished public ownership of key sectors of industry. <blockquote>"No matter their shareholding structure, all national corporations in the sectors that make up the core of the Chinese economy are required by law to be owned or controlled by the state. These sectors include power generation and distribution; oil, coal, petrochemicals, and natural gas; telecommunications; armaments; Aviation and shipping; machinery and automobile production; information technologies; construction; and the production of iron, steel, and nonferrous metals. The railroads, grain distribution, and insurance are also dominated by the state, even if no official edict says so."<ref name=":10" /></blockquote>Another way the CPC retains public ownership is through the banking system. The People’s Bank of China (PBC) highlights one of the most important ways in which the CPC uses the market system to control private capital and subordinate it to socialism. Far from functioning as a capitalist national bank, which prioritizes facilitating the accumulation of capital by the bourgeoisie, “this system frustrates private borrowers.”<ref name=":10" /> <blockquote>"the state exercises control over most of the rest of the economy through the financial system, especially the banks. By the end of 2008, outstanding loans amounted to almost $5 trillion, and annual loan growth was almost 19 percent and accelerating; lending, in other words, is probably China’s principal economic force. The Chinese state owns all the large financial institutions, the People’s Bank of China assigns them loan quotas every year, and lending is directed according to the state’s priorities."</blockquote>The CPC floods the market with public bonds, which has a crowding-out effect on private corporate bonds that firms use to raise independent capital. This also renders state bonds far more valuable than private bonds and the credit deterioration of non-state bonds is worse than state bonds. State Owned Enterprises receive much more preferential treatment from the government due to this model of flooding state bonds and far more valuable bonds into the market, with comparable private bonds declining in terms of value and being unable to compete. In 2018, this is clearly demonstrated after the implementation of more regulations on the shadow banking market, leading to investors flocking towards much more valuable State bonds over private ones. This inevitably creates a feed back look where State bonds have a "premium" and are objectively more valuable than private ones.<ref>[https://en.saif.sjtu.edu.cn/junpan/Credit.pdf The SOE Premium and Government Support in China’s Credit Marke]t - Zhe Geng and Jun Pan - November 29, 2022</ref> By harnessing supply and demand in the bond market, the PBC prevents private firms, domestic or foreign, from accumulating capital independently of socialist management.

Although modern China has an expansive market system, the CPC uses the market to both secure and advance socialism. Rather than privatizing major industries, as is often alleged by detractors, the state maintains a vibrant system of socialist public ownership that prevents the rise of an independent bourgeoisie.

The capitalist Australia-based Center for Independent Studies (CIS) has also published a July 2008 article that says that those who think that China is becoming a capitalist country “misunderstand the structure of the Chinese economy, which largely remains a state-dominated system rather than a free-market one.” The article elaborates:<blockquote><blockquote>"By strategically controlling economic resources and remaining the primary dispenser of economic opportunity and success in Chinese society, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is building institutions and supporters that seem to be entrenching the Party’s monopoly on power. Indeed, in many ways, reforms and the country’s economic growth have actually ''enhanced'' the CCP’s ability to remain in power. Rather than being swept away by change, the CCP is in many ways its agent and beneficiary."<ref>[https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/media/putting-democracy-in-china-on-hold/ John Lee, “Putting Democracy in China on Hold,” May 28, 2008], Published by The Center for Independent Studies</ref></blockquote></blockquote>The true nature of the private sector is actually quite small once you take into account it's breaking down. In 2005, the private sector is dominated by small sized enterprises, only 5 per cent of private enterprises employ more than 500 and only 2% more than 1000 workers. Contrast this with the state sector where 80% of workers work in companies employing over 500 workers. The number of private companies rose from 90,000 in 1989 employing 1.4 million workers, to 3.6 million companies in 2004 employing 40 million workers. 74% of private companies originated as new start ups, 7% are privatized state owned companies, 8% are privatized rural collectives and 11% are privatized urban collectives. The average income of an entrepreneur is $6600 US per year (2002 figures) this gives an idea of the small scale of the overwhelming majority of private sector enterprises in China.<ref>OECD Economic Survey China Sept. 2005 p83-95</ref>

Though some may worry about the existence of foreign enterprise in China, once we look deeper into how these manifest, these worries are quickly aleviated.

''"Foreign investment was regulated to make it compatible with state development planning. Technology transfer and other performance requirements ― conditions attached to foreign investment to make sure that the host country gets some benefit from foreign investment, such as the use of locally produced inputs, or the hiring of local managers ― were common and are still an issue of contention with the United States today.”''<ref>[https://cepr.net/images/stories/reports/scorecard-2017-10.pdf David Rosnick, Mark Weisbrot, and Jacob Wilson, The Scorecard on Development, 1960–2016: China and the Global Economic Rebound, 2017]</ref>

"''in order to gain access to the vast and rapidly growing China market, Boeing was required to assist the main Chinese aircraft manufacturer in Xian to successively establish a capacity to produce spare parts and then manufacture whole sections of aircraft, and finally to assist in the development of a capacity to produce complete aircraft within China. In order to gain the right to invest in car production in China, Ford Motor Company was required to first invest for several years in upgrading the technical capacity of the Chinese automobile spare parts industry through a sequence of joint ventures.”''<ref>Peter Nolan, China’s Rise, Russia’s Fall, Palgrave Macmillan, 1995</ref>

And of course, for a good example would be McDonalds, where it remains a Joint-Venture with majority CPC ownership. 52% owned by CPC, 20% by McDonalds and 28% by Carlyle.<ref>[https://mashable.com/article/mcdonalds-china-franchise-citic Chinese government now controls the main stake in McDonald's China business]</ref> China also bars many foreign companies from participating in the Chinese market. As a result, companies need to enter the market through other means, such as setting up a wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) or forming a joint venture with a Chinese business partner. It is also alleged that Chinese Joint-Ventures and Chinese companies tend to steal IP and technologies from these foreign companies, as demonstrated in the above quotes. And many foreign investors have also stated that there are no legal protections for these foreign companies and Chinese attorneys will lobby in favour of the state, this indicates that foreign companies clearly do not run amuck in China. Many foreign investors have complained about the lack of freedom of voice in the Chinese market, with the state being the ultimate deciding factor in many cases.<ref>[https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=f5481934-6949-4666-bfb9-08976db73831#:~:text=China%20bars%20many%20foreign%20companies,with%20a%20Chinese%20business%20partner. China Joint Ventures: Everything You Should Know] - China Law Blog, Harris Bricken</ref>

The TVE's (Township and Village Enterprises) have been described as "private". This collectively owned sector grew rapidly - in 1978 there were 1.5 million such enterprises, by 1995 there were 22 million. In 1978 they employed 28 million people, by 1995 128 million.<ref>[https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315211305/institutional-transition-china-township-village-enterprises-hongyi-chen Hongyi Chen The Institutional Transition of China’s Township Village Enterprises]. p5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315211305</ref> While they have been claimed to be private, in reality, the CPC legally defines TVE's as <blockquote>"The term "township enterprises" as mentioned in this Law refers to all kinds of enterprises established in townships (including villages under their jurisdiction) that are mainly invested by rural collective economic organizations or farmers and undertake the obligation to support agriculture.

The term "investment-based" mentioned in the preceding paragraph '''refers to rural collective economic organizations or farmers investing more than 50 percent, or less than 50 percent, but can play a controlling or actual dominating role.'''

A township enterprise that meets the conditions for an enterprise legal person shall obtain the qualification of an enterprise legal person according to law."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200717181302/http://www.gov.cn/banshi/2005-06/01/content_3432.htm "Township Enterprise Law of the People's Republic of China"]</ref></blockquote>This tells us that despite being claimed to be private, the village are still the collective owners of the TVE's. Thus making it a Cooperative sector of the economy.

=== Growth and poverty reduction ===

According to a 2019 report from Philip Alston (UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights):<blockquote>China’s achievements in alleviating extreme poverty in recent years, and in meeting highly ambitious targets for improving social well-being, have been extraordinary. [...] Over the past three decades, and with particular speed in recent years, China has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. This is a staggering achievement and is a credit to those responsible.<ref>{{Web citation|title=End-of-mission statement on China, by Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights|date=2016-9-23|author=Professor Philip Alston|newspaper=UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)|title-url=https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20402}}</ref></blockquote>Similarly, a 2020 study in the ''China Economic Review'' notes that income growth has been "widely shared nationwide," resulting in "substantial, ongoing rural poverty reduction" throughout the country. A major milestone was reached with the recent announcement (acknowledged in Western media outlets, such as CNN) that the last poverty-stricken counties in China have been delisted, "leaving no county in a state of absolute poverty countrywide."<ref>{{Citation|title=The long-term evolution of national income inequality and rural poverty in China|year=2020|author=Chuliang Luo, Shi Li, Terry Sicular|publisher=China Economic Review|doi=10.1016/j.chieco.2020.101465|lg=https://libgen.rs/scimag/10.1016%2Fj.chieco.2020.101465}}</ref>

Malnutrition has continued to decline massively in China over the last several decades. According to the University of Oxford's Our World in Data project, China now has a lower rate of death from malnutrition than the United States,<ref>Our World in Data. ''[https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/malnutrition-death-rates?tab=chart&country=CHN~USA Death rate from malnutrition, 1990 to 2017].''</ref> as well as a lower rate of extreme poverty, despite having a significantly lower GDP-per-capita.<ref>Our World in Data. ''[https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-the-population-living-in-extreme-poverty?tab=chart&time=1990..latest&country=CHN~USA&region=World Share of the population living in extreme poverty, 1990 to 2016]''</ref>

Economic growth has also increased dramatically. According to a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research, "reforms yielded a significant growth and structural transformation differential. GDP growth is 4.2 percentage points higher and the share of the labor force in agriculture is 23.9 percentage points lower compared with the continuation of the pre-1978 policies."<ref>{{Citation|title=The Economy of People’s Republic of China from 1953|year=2015|author=Anton Cheremukhin, Mikhail Golosov, Sergei Guriev, Aleh Tsyvinski|publisher=National Bureau of Economic Research|doi=10.3386/w21397}}</ref>

=== Foreign relations ===
In 2021, China signed a 25-year cooperation agreement with the [[Islamic Republic of Iran]].<ref name=":8" />

==Debunking myths==

=== "Imperialism" and the Belt and Road Initiative===
China is often accused of being an "imperialist" state, due primarily to its investments in [[Africa]], as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. These critics ignore the actual views of the African people themselves, who overwhelmingly approve of China's role in their economic development.<ref>{{Web citation|title=Africans approve of China, says Afrobarometer|publisher=Deutsche Welle|date=2016|url=https://www.dw.com/en/africans-approve-of-china-says-afrobarometer/a-36214106}}</ref> In addition, the extent of Chinese involvement in Africa is smaller than often believed; according to a 2019 paper from the Center for Economic Policy Research, "China’s influence in Africa is much smaller than is generally believed, though its engagement on the continent is increasing. Chinese investment in Africa, while less extensive than often assumed, has the potential to generate jobs and development on the continent."<ref>{{Citation|title=Chinese investment in Africa: How much do we know?|author=Deborah Brautigam, Xinshen Diao, Margaret McMillan, Jed Silver|publisher=Private Enterprise Development in Low Income Countries|title-url=https://pedl.cepr.org/publications/chinese-investment-africa-how-much-do-we-know-0|series=Policy Insight Series|pdf=https://pedl.cepr.org/sites/default/files/PEDL%20Policy%20Insights%20Series%20-%20No.3_0.pdf}}</ref>

A 2018 study in the ''Review of Development Finance'' also found that Chinese investment in Africa raises incomes in the African nations that receive the investment, in a similar way to foreign investments by other nations. The author state that these results "suggest that the win-win deal China claims when investing in Africa may hold, and Chinese investment contributes to growth in Africa. Put differently, Chinese investment is mutually beneficial for both China and Africa."<ref>{{Citation|title=On the importance of Chinese investment in Africa.|year=2018|author=Ficawoyi Donou-Adonsou, Sokchea Lim|publisher=Review of Development Finance|doi=10.1016/j.rdf.2018.05.003}}</ref>

Despite the Western media accusing China of "debt trap diplomacy," China gives loans at low interest rates and often allows countries to restructure or even never repay loans, unlike the [[Neocolonialism|neocolonial]] [[International Monetary Fund|IMF]].<ref name=":9">{{Web citation|author=Amanda Yee|newspaper=[[Liberation News]]|title=Why Chinese ‘debt trap diplomacy’ is a lie|date=2022-12-19|url=https://www.liberationnews.org/why-chinese-debt-trap-diplomacy-is-a-lie/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220062314/https://www.liberationnews.org/why-chinese-debt-trap-diplomacy-is-a-lie/|archive-date=2022-12-20|retrieved=2022-12-23}}</ref> China has forgiven tens of billions of dollars of debt held by African countries.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Shang Guan Jie Wen|newspaper=China and the New World|title=China Forgives Tens of Billions of Dollars in Debt for Africa|date=2022-02-23|url=https://chinaandthenewworld.wordpress.com/2022/02/23/china-forgives-debt-in-africa-in-massive-amounts/|archive-url=https://web.archiRemove.org/web/20220223061528/https://chinaandthenewworld.wordpress.com/2022/02/23/china-forgives-debt-in-africa-in-massive-amounts/|archive-date=2022-02-23|retrieved=2022-05-10}}</ref> It has also forgiven 23 interest-free loans to 17 different countries.<ref name=":9" />

The economist [[Yanis Varoufakis]] discussed the topic in a recent lecture given at the Cambridge forum. He helpfully debunks a number of myths on the matter.

===Censorship and the Great Firewall===
[[Meta Platforms, Inc.|Facebook]] was allowed in China up until the deadly 2009 riots in Xinjiang.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Uncredited|newspaper=Tech Crunch|title=China Blocks Access To Twitter, Facebook After Riots|date=2009-07-07|url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/07/07/china-blocks-access-to-twitter-facebook-after-riots/|retrieved=2023-03-27}}</ref> In the bigger picture, this is a response to the terroristic behavior of the [[National Endowment for Democracy|NED]].<ref>{{Web citation|author=christineb|newspaper=National Endowment for Democracy|title=UYGHUR HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY ACT BUILDS ON WORK OF NED GRANTEES|date=2020-05-29|url=https://www.ned.org/uyghur-human-rights-policy-act-builds-on-work-of-ned-grantees/|retrieved=2023-27-03}}</ref> Much like how [[Western censorship|communists are censored]] in the west, China is defending itself against the common [[imperialism|imperialist]] tactic of [[color revolution]].

===Abandoning of Marxism===
[[File:Marx_poster_in_Beijing.jpg|thumb|A poster in Beijing that reads "Never forget our roots. Marxism was here in China's early days"|alt=]]
In 2020, Xi Jinping gave a speech to the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, in which he made clear the continued importance that the CPC places on Marxist political economy. To quote:<blockquote>Marxist political economy is an important component of Marxism, and required learning for our efforts to uphold and develop Marxism. [...] There are people who believe Marxist political economy and ''Das Kapital'' are obsolete, but this is an arbitrary and erroneous judgment. Setting aside more distant events and looking at just the period since the global financial crisis, we can see that many capitalist countries have remained in an economic slump, with serious unemployment problems, intensifying polarization, and deepening social divides. The facts tell us that the contradictions between the socialization of production and the private possession of the means of production still exist, but they are manifested in ways and show characteristics that are somewhat different.<ref>{{Citation|title=Opening up new frontiers for Marxist political economy in contemporary China|year=2015|author=Xi Jinping|publisher=Qiushi Journal|title-url=https://en.qstheory.cn/2020-11/08/c_560906.htm|trans-lang=Chinese}}</ref></blockquote>He goes on to list a number of principles guiding the implementation of Marxist political economy in the PRC:<blockquote>First, we must uphold a people-centered approach to development. Development is for the people; this is the fundamental position of Marxist political economy. [...] Second, we must uphold the new development philosophy. Third, we must uphold and improve our basic socialist economic system. According to Marxist political economy, ownership of the means of production is the core of the relations of production, and this determines a society's fundamental nature and the orientation of its development. Since reform and opening up... we have stressed the importance of continuing to make public ownership the mainstay while allowing ownership of other forms to develop side by side, and made it clear that both the public and non-public sectors are important components of the socialist market economy as well as crucial foundations for our nation's economic and social development. [...] Fourth, we must uphold and improve our basic socialist distribution system. [...] Fifth, we must uphold reforms to develop the socialist market economy. [...] Sixth, we must uphold the fundamental national policy of opening up.</blockquote>From this, it should be quite clear that Marxism (specifically Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought) retains a dominant role in the People's Republic of China, serving as the guiding ideology of the Communist Party.

Despite common misconceptions, [[class struggle]] (an important component of Marxism) has not been abandoned in China; billionaires go missing, are jailed or even executed for corruption, bribery and speaking out against the government.<ref>https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-billionaire-spoke-against-government-sentenced-18-years-prison-2021-7</ref><ref>https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/disappearing-billionaires-1195107.html</ref> In 2013, a private company started building luxury villas on protected land in the Qinling Mountains; Xi Jinping ordered the buildings destroyed to make room for parks and giant panda habitats.<ref>https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/lavish-chinese-villas-tumble-to-make-room-for-parks-pandas</ref>

===LGBT rights===
<blockquote>''See also: [[LGBT rights and issues in AES countries#People's Republic of China]]''</blockquote>[[LGBT+|Same-sex relationships]] are legal in China, although same-sex marriage and adoption are not currently legal. Same-sex couple married overseas can be named as each other’s “legal guardians”, a status considered fairly similar to a civil union.<ref>Phoebe Zhang (2021-12-21). [https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3114633/lgbtq-people-china-picture-mixed-global-report-finds "For LGBTQ people in China the picture is mixed, global report finds, with some legal protections but barriers to freedom of expression"] ''South China Morning Post''.</ref> Transgender individuals are legally allowed to receive healthcare and may legally change their gender marker after receiving sexual reassignment surgery. In recent years, transgender treatment facilities have become more available in China, including the opening of a clinic for the treatment of transgender minors in 2021, with both psychological help and hormone treatment available.<ref>Zhang Wanqing and Li Jiaru. (2021-11-08) [https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1008904/chinas-first-clinic-for-trans-youth-a-good-step%2C-advocates-say- "China’s First Clinic for Trans Youth a ‘Good Step,’ Advocates Say."] Sixth Tone.</ref>

Professor Li Yinhe of the Institute of Sociology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences was quoted in a [[China Global Television Network|CGTN]] article as saying that the biggest challenge for the LGBT community in China is not anything imposed by law, but rather family pressure stemming from the "deep-rooted culture" that places high priority on family values and especially an emphasis on carrying on the family line.<ref>[https://news.cgtn.com/news/3163444d7a677a6333566d54/index.html "LGBT in China: Changes and Challenges"] (22-Jan-2018). ''CGTN''.</ref>

According to a 2020 report published in BMC Public Health, "For member of the Chinese LGBT community, the greatest source of pressure to conform to societal norms of sexuality and identity comes from family members—particularly parents." The report also found that "a higher level of economic development in provinces was associated with a decrease in discrimination, and we identified that every 100 thousand RMB increase in per capita GDP lead to a 6.4% decrease in discriminatory events perpetrated by heterosexuals" and that "The prevalence of this discrimination is associated with the economic development of the province in which it occurs."<ref>Wang, Yuanyuan, Zhishan Hu, Ke Peng, Joanne Rechdan, Yuan Yang, Lijuan Wu, Ying Xin, et al. [https://d-nb.info/1214031323/34 “Mapping out a Spectrum of the Chinese Public’s Discrimination toward the LGBT Community: Results from a National Survey.”] ''BMC Public Health'' 20, no. 1 (May 12, 2020). <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-08834-y</nowiki>. [https://web.archive.org/web/20221010062927/https://d-nb.info/1214031323/34 Archived] 2022-10-10.</ref>

The 2021 short documentary film "A Day of Trans" (Chinese: 跨越性别的一天) explores the lived experiences of four Chinese transgender individuals across three generations, exploring their professional career paths, community involvement, social barriers, and their unique approaches to life as transgender individuals across the generations. It is directed by Yennefer Fang, a Chinese transgender independent filmmaker. It follows Liu Peilin, who was born in 1956, and started identify as a woman in her 40s. It also follows Mr. C, a 35-year-old transgender man, who became the public face in the fight for job equality in China in 2016 and who won a court case against his employer for discrimination for his gender identity. Finally, it follows two transgender artists who grew up during China's rapid economic growth. Fang said that she tries to observe the status of transgender people from an internal perspective and tries to dispel misconceptions through the documentary, including the perception that "transgenderism" is a contemporary, white, or bourgeois term.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY1L1p29vuc "A Day of Trans 跨越性别的一天".] Yennefer Fang, Yennefer Fang Studios. YouTube. [https://web.archive.org/web/20211128114433/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY1L1p29vuc Archived] 2021-11-28.</ref><ref>Ji Yuqiao. [https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202111/1239389.shtml “New Documentary ‘a Day of Trans’ Explores Experiences of Three Generations of Chinese Transgender Persons."] Global Times. November 19, 2021. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220927204956/https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202111/1239389.shtml Archived] 2022-09-17.</ref>

== See Also ==

* [[Socialism with Chinese Characteristics]]
* [[Reform and Opening Up]]
* [[Socialist market economy]]

==References==

<references />
[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:Marxist-Leninist states]]
[[Category:People's Republic of China]]
[[Category:Targets of bourgeois media]]
[[Category:Countries targeted by imperialist aggression]]
[[Category:Asian countries]]

Imperialism

2023-06-28T04:00:43Z

Camaradanaxostrav: Excised social-imperialist propaganda.

'''Imperialism''' is the highest stage of the [[capitalist]] [[mode of production]], in which monopolies and cartels become the prevalent economic force of society.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|title=Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism|chapter=Chapter 1: Concentration of production and monopolies|mia=https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/index.htm|author=[[Vladimir Lenin]]|quote=Thus, the principal stages in the history of monopolies are the following: (1) 1860-70, the highest stage, the apex of development of free competition; monopoly is in the barely discernible, embryonic stage. (2) After the crisis of 1873, a lengthy period of development of cartels; but they are still the exception. They are not yet durable. They are still a transitory phenomenon. (3) The boom at the end of the nineteenth century and the crisis of 1900-03. Cartels become one of the foundations of the whole of economic life. Capitalism has been transformed into imperialism.}}</ref>

Beginning with the first paragraph of [[Library:Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism|his pamphlet]], [[Vladimir Lenin]] wrote that rapid growth of industry and concentration of production in in growing enterprises represent the key characteristic of capitalism.<ref name=":0" /> [[Kwame Nkrumah]] and, most recently, [[Cheng Enfu]], have expanded on Lenin's definition of imperialism.

In [[Vladimir Lenin]]'s further analysis of imperialism, this economic stage is defined by five basic features:
* The presence of [[Monopoly|monopolies]] which play a decisive role in economic life.
* The merging of bank [[capital]] with industrial capital into finance capital controlled by a [[Dictatorship of the bourgeoisie|financial oligarchy]].
* The export of capital as distinguished from the simple export of [[Commodity|commodities]].
* The formation of international monopolist capitalist associations ([[Cartel|cartels]]).
* The territorial division of the whole world among the biggest capitalist powers.<ref>{{Citation|author=[[Vladimir Lenin]]|mia=https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/index.htm|title=Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism|chapter=Chapter 7: Imperialism as a special stage of capitalism|quote=But very brief definitions, although convenient, for they sum up the main points, are nevertheless inadequate, since we have to deduce from them some especially important features of the phenomenon that has to be defined. And so, without forgetting the conditional and relative value of all definitions in general, which can never embrace all the concatenations of a phenomenon in its full development, we must give a definition of imperialism that will include the following five of its basic features:

(1) the concentration of production and capital has developed to such a high stage that it has created monopolies which play a decisive role in economic life; (2) the merging of bank capital with industrial capital, and the creation, on the basis of this “finance capital”, of a financial oligarchy; (3) the export of capital as distinguished from the export of commodities acquires exceptional importance; (4) the formation of international monopolist capitalist associations which share the world among themselves, and (5) the territorial division of the whole world among the biggest capitalist powers is completed. Imperialism is capitalism at that stage of development at which the dominance of monopolies and finance capital is established; in which the export of capital has acquired pronounced importance; in which the division of the world among the international trusts has begun, in which the division of all territories of the globe among the biggest capitalist powers has been completed.}}</ref> This expansion to Marx's analysis of capitalist development was one of Lenin's most important theoretical contributions to [[political economy]].

The development of imperialism in the global economy also reinforces a dialectical relationship between core-periphery countries, mainly [[dependency]] and subordination of [[Underdevelopment|underdeveloped countries]] to imperialist economies.
== Theoretical basis ==
Marx posited, according to his [[three laws of motion]], that as capitalist economies matured, they would inevitably be driven into a crisis which would result in internal class revolt and the establishment of a [[dictatorship of the proletariat]] (and eventually [[socialism]]). However, according to Lenin's observations, the development of ''imperialism'' allowed capitalism to postpone this crisis through the acquisition of colonies, which served as a new outlets for capital investment and a new source of labour power to exploit.

This scramble for the expansion of capitalist empires drove the various imperialist powers into a competition with one another over the size of their imperialist spheres of influence and access to resources and labour markets, which led to destructive inter-imperialist conflicts such as the [[First World War]]. Imperialism thus stretches the inherent contradictions of capitalism to ever more extreme limits, leading [[J.V. Stalin]] to deem Leninism the "Marxism of the era of imperialism".

Imperialism as a stage of development in capitalism means that it will always develop in any sufficiently advanced capitalist mode of production. As markets become saturated within the boundaries of the individual nation (due to an influx of producers), capital must be exported elsewhere, and the main function of banks is to help with that (see [[finance capitalism]]).

Countries must eventually turn to imperialism for two main reasons:
#Capitalism requires constant consumption, which translates into constant growth (and GDP growth). Without GDP growth, capitalism stagnates and a recession occurs. However, since it is impossible to expect infinite growth with finite available resources and as markets become saturated, the bourgeoisie must seek new opportunities.
#The bourgeoisie is also in constant internal competition, and as such there is a very rational reason for a capitalist to emerge victorious over the competition; accessing untapped markets and cheaper labour will give them an edge over the competition.
However, imperialized countries will not be allowed to develop past the most primitive stage of capitalism, preventing them from developing their own imperialism. In these countries, we may see the emergence of two distinct subsections of the bourgeoisie. Firstly, a "comprador" class, i.e. the section of the national bourgeoisie which is allied with, and dependent upon, foreign imperialist investment; and second the "national" bourgeoisie, whose class interests are, at least temporarily, aligned with the exploited working class: to achieve [[national liberation]] (so that they can become exploiters without being exploited, upon which point their tentative alignment with the national proletariat will end).

=== Engels ===
[[Engels|Friedrich Engels]] alluded to imperialism in ''[[Library:The principles of communism|The principles of communism]]'':

{{Quote|In this way, all semi-barbarian countries, which had hitherto been more or less strangers to historical development, and whose industry had been based on manufacture, were violently forced out of their isolation. They bought the cheaper commodities of the English and allowed their own manufacturing workers to be ruined. Countries which had known no progress for thousands of years – for example, India – were thoroughly revolutionized, and even China is now on the way to a revolution.

We have come to the point where a new machine invented in England deprives millions of Chinese workers of their livelihood within a year’s time.

In this way, big industry has brought all the people of the Earth into contact with each other, has merged all local markets into one world market, has spread civilization and progress everywhere and has thus ensured that whatever happens in civilized countries will have repercussions in all other countries.|Engels|Principles of communism {{Refn|Engels. [[Library:The principles of communism|''The principles of communism'']]: [[Library:The principles of communism#What were the immediate consequences of the industrial revolution and of the division of society into bourgeoisie and proletariat?|''What were the immediate consequences of the industrial revolution and of the division of society into bourgeoisie and proletariat?'']]|name=|group=note}}}}
At the time of his writing, imperialism was not yet a word in common use (not until the 1870s) however, policies of imperialism were already happening around the world -- especially at hands of the British Empire in Africa.

Given that imperialism is, (according to Lenin) the highest stage of capitalism, one tendency of imperialism is to export the class conflict of a nation to foreign lands. Thus, the British nation, in order to solve its problem of unemployment and food scarcity along a capitalist basis (without socialism; redistribution of wealth and power to the commoners through social ownership) it had to find new lands to settle the unemployed.

{{Quote|"In order to save the forty million inhabitants of the United Kingdom from a bloody civil war, our colonial statesmen must acquire new lands for settling the surplus population of this country, to provide new markets. ... The Empire, as I have always said, is a bread and butter question."|[[Cecil Rhodes]], British imperialist, as quoted in [[Lenin]]'s [[Library:Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism|Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism]]}}

=== Parenti ===
[[Michael Parenti]] described several examples of imperialism in [[Library:Against Empire|Against Empire]].
{{Quote|By "imperialism" I mean the process whereby the dominant politico-economic interests of one nation expropriate for their own enrichment the land, labor, raw materials, and markets of another people.

The earliest victims of Western European imperialism were other Europeans. Some 800 years ago, Ireland became the first colony of what later became known as the British empire. A part of Ireland still remains under British occupation. Other early Caucasian victims included the Eastern Europeans. The people Charlemagne worked to death in his mines in the early part of the ninth century were Slavs. So frequent and prolonged was the enslavement of Eastern Europeans that "Slav" became synonymous with servitude. Indeed, the word "slave" derives from "Slav." Eastern Europe was an early source of capital accumulation, having become wholly dependent upon Western manufactures by the seventeenth century.

A particularly pernicious example of intra-European imperialism was the Nazi aggression during World War II, which gave the German business cartels and the Nazi state an opportunity to plunder the resources and exploit the labor of occupied Europe, including the slave labor of concentration camps.

The preponderant thrust of the European, North American, and Japanese imperial powers has been directed against Africa, Asia, and Latin America. By the nineteenth century, they saw the Third World as not only a source of raw materials and slaves but a market for manufactured goods. By the twentieth century, the industrial nations were exporting not only goods but capital, in the form of machinery, technology, investments, and loans. To say that we have entered the stage of capital export and investment is not to imply that the plunder of natural resources has ceased. If anything, the despoliation has accelerated.

[...]

Imperialism is older than capitalism. The Persian, Macedonian, Roman, and Mongol empires all existed centuries before the Rothschilds and Rockefellers. Emperors and conquistadors were interested mostly in plunder and tribute, gold and glory. Capitalist imperialism differs from these earlier forms in the way it systematically accumulates capital through the organized exploitation of labor and the penetration of overseas markets. Capitalist imperialism invests in other countries, transforming and dominating their economies, cultures, and political life, integrating their financial and productive structures into an international system of capital accumulation.

A central imperative of capitalism is expansion. Investors will not put their money into business ventures unless they can extract more than they invest. Increased earnings come only with a growth in the enterprise. The capitalist ceaselessly searches for ways of making more money in order to make still more money. One must always invest to realize profits, gathering as much strength as possible in the face of competing forces and unpredictable markets.|Michael Parenti|Against Empire. City Lights Books.|1995, p. 5}}

== Origins ==
The development of imperialism began with the [[Long Depression|Panic of 1873]], which caused an economic depression lasting through the 1880s. When the economy recovered in 1889, [[Cartel|cartels]] took advantage of the situation and drove up prices. After another depression from 1900 to 1903, they became even stronger and controlled the coal, mining, and iron industries by 1905.<ref name=":0" />

The early 20th century was marked by several imperialist, colony-grabbing wars: the [[Spanish–Statesian War|Spanish-Statesian war]] of 1898, the [[Boer war]] of 1899-1902, the [[Russo-japanese war|Russo-Japanese war]] of 1905, the [[Italo-Turkish war|Italo-Turkish]] war of 1911-1912, and the [[Balkan wars]] of 1912-1913. These various conflicts between the imperialist powers of Europe reached an explosive head, cumulating in the 1914 war, popularly know as [[First World War|World War I]]. It is in this historic context of the build-up to WW1, the great race by the various western powers for colonial tributaries—instigated by the burgeoning needs of [[capital]] and capital reproduction—that Lenin wrote up the foundation theory of Imperialism.

== Contemporary times==

===Imperial core===
Today, imperialism is still very much alive as Lenin described. The [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF) and [[World Bank]] for example were institutions created for the benefit of the imperial core (the richest and oldest capitalist economies, grossly encompassing North America and Western Europe) so as to perpetually keep former colonised countries in debt that they can not repay. The IMF is known to demand specific [[free market]] policies put into place so as to facilitate movement of capital from the imperial core towards these ex-colonies, also known as the [[Global South]]. On top of having many strings attached, the IMF is allowed to seize projects when loans cannot be paid back, and they often can't due to very harsh payment plans (usually very high interest rates over a 7-year period).

This "soft" imperialism is not the only form of imperialism happening, and we can look at the [[US Invasion of Iraq]] in 2003 for a "harder" form of imperialism. In this case, the entire country of Iraq as well as the surrounding region was destabilized, which allowed U.S. oil companies to eliminate competition and seize these wells for themselves.

During the Cold War, both the Soviet Union and China were became social-imperialist powers. Today, Russia and China themselves represent imperialist powers.
== Imperialist military ==
Imperialism is enforced by military power—especially, since the early 20th century, by U.S. military power. One indication of this is the large number of military bases that the U.S. maintains in foreign countries and the large number of U.S. troops stationed around the world.

===U.S. military personnel in Europe===
At the end of 2021, the United States had 74,000 military personnel stationed in Europe in long-term positions (according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service).<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Reuters|date=2022-01-24|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/where-nato-forces-are-deployed-2022-01-24|title=Factbox: Where NATO forces are deployed|access-date=2022-03}}</ref> Not all are combat-ready troops. The numbers of these U.S. personnel in some particular countries is as follows:

* [[Federal Republic of Germany|Germany]]: 36,000
* [[Italian Republic|Italy]]: 12,000
* [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|Britain]]: 9,000
* [[Kingdom of Spain|Spain]]: 3,000
* [[Republic of Türkiye|Turkey]]: 1,600

Besides these personnel, the U.S. rotates 4,500 troops through [[Republic of Poland|Poland]].<ref>Reuters 2022, ''op. cit.''</ref>

==Notes==
<references group="note"/>
==References ==
<references />
[[Category:Marxist terminology]]
[[Category:Marxist theory]]
[[Category:Marxism]]
[[Category:Leninism]]
[[Category:Capitalism]]

ProleWiki

2023-06-28T03:59:05Z

Camaradanaxostrav: Removed meek slanders.

<blockquote>''This article is about the history and notable events that happened on ProleWiki. For a description of the wiki, see the [[ProleWiki:About|About page]].''</blockquote>

{{Infobox website
| name =
| logo = File:Prolewiki logo 2022.png
| logo_size = 200px
| logo_alt =
| logo_caption = The logo of ProleWiki, a globe featuring a star and wheat emblem, historically communist symbols
| screenshot = File:ProleWiki Screenshot 2022-10-09.png
| screenshot_size = 200px
| screenshot_alt =
| screenshot_caption = Main page of English ProleWiki
| type = Online encyclopedia
| language_count = 7
| language =
| founding_name =
| founding_date = 30 September, 2020
| founding_website =
| founded =
| founder = [[Comrade:Forte|Comrade Forte]]
| key_people = [[Comrade:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]], [[Comrade:MxAsh|MxAsh]]
| num_users = 23 [[Special:ActiveUsers|active users]]<br>{{NUMBEROFUSERS}} registered users
| url = prolewiki.org
| footnotes =
}}
'''ProleWiki''' is a Chinese chauvinist and revisionist propaganda hub.

== Etymology ==
The name chosen for ProleWiki was based on the term "proletariat", whose root ''"prole"'' you may find in common with very different Western languages: ''proletariat, proletariado, prolétariat, proletariato, proletariaat,'' et cetera''.'' This linguistic phenomenon reflects the [[Proletarian internationalism|internationalist]] aim of the encyclopedia.

== History ==

=== Founding ===
[[File:Prolewiki logo.png|thumb|203x203px|Old logo of ProleWiki used until February 2022]]
ProleWiki was created on 30 September 2020 by current ProleWiki administrator [[Comrade:Forte|Forte]]. The project began under his sole administration for some time, receiving casual help from several contributors on technical aspects, the most important of which was [[Comrade:MxAsh|MxAsh]]. MxAsh helped with organizing the database, maintaining the server, establishing regular backups and generally helped out with the tech stack.

On 1 November 2020, ex-user [[Comrade:Jucheguevara|Jucheguevara]] joined ProleWiki and became an administrator that same month until September 2022.

In the month of November, ProleWiki received a mass influx of account creations and spam accounts,<ref name=":0">[https://en.prolewiki.org/index.php?title=Special:Log&offset=&limit=500&type=newusers&user=&page=&wpdate=&tagfilter=&subtype= ProleWiki logs on user creation]</ref> prompting the administration to implement an account request system.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Camarada Forte|newspaper=Lemmygrad|title=Enjoy ProleWiki's first spam attack|date=2020-11-16|url=https://lemmygrad.ml/post/9176|quote=}}</ref>

On 16 November 2020, current ProleWiki administrator [[Comrade:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] joined the project.<ref name=":0" />

Jucheguevara and CriticalResist became administrators on 30 November 2020 and 5 February 2021 respectively, along with several other members of ProleWiki (as an invitation was extended to all editors at the time), in an effort to diminish the centralization of tasks into a single person.<ref name=":1">[https://en.prolewiki.org/index.php?title=Special:Log&offset=&limit=500&type=rights&user=&page=&wpdate=&tagfilter=&subtype= ProleWiki logs on user rights]</ref> The effort eventually proved ineffective as the administration group suffered with absenteeism, and most of the early administrators would have their functions revoked a some months later.<ref name=":1" /> The administrators who remained committed and active on ProleWiki at that time were Jucheguevara, Forte and CriticalResist.

On 29 December 2021, ProleWiki editor [[Comrade:Ledlecreeper27|Ledlecreeper27]] joined the project.<ref name=":0" /> He brought the project to new heights through his extremely quality contributions spanning several subjects. As of 2023, he remains the most prolific editor on ProleWiki.<ref name=":2">[[Special:ContributionScores|ProleWiki contribution scores]]</ref>

=== Purge of patriotic socialists ===
[[File:Jucheguevara Infrared message.png|thumb|382x382px|Messages sent by Jucheguevara to Infrared supporters attempting to infiltrate ProleWiki with MAGA communists]]
In September 2022, Jucheguevara worked with [[Infrared]] in an attempt to infiltrate ProleWiki with [[MAGACommunism|MAGA communists]] and [[Patriotic socialism|patriotic socialists]]. He was banned on 27 September 2022.<ref>{{Web citation|author=@felipeforte|newspaper=[[Lemmygrad]]|title=Jucheguevara has been removed from administrative positions|date=2022-09-27|url=https://lemmygrad.ml/post/391777}}</ref> Following the purge of two other patriotic socialists, which formed the only presence on ProleWiki, he and followers of Infrared started [[InfraWiki]] on 13 October to promote [[settler colonialism]] and [[social conservatism]].<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=InfraWiki|title=InfraWiki|date=2022-11-21|url=https://infrawiki.us/index.php/InfraWiki|retrieved=2022-11-25}}</ref> On 22 October, ProleWiki added opposition to chauvinism and patriotic socialism to its [[ProleWiki:Principles|principles]], thereby cementing a position of no compromise on such ideologies.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=ProleWiki|title=Principles of ProleWiki|date=2022-10-22|url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/ProleWiki:Principles|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122165427/https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/ProleWiki:Principles|archive-date=2022-11-22|retrieved=2023-01-28}}</ref>

=== Anti-revisionist resistence ===
In 2022, Wisconcom upheld Marxism against revisionism and ultra-rightism.
=== Democratic reforms ===
[[File:ProleWiki book club.png|thumb|Screenshot of the users who participated in the first ProleWiki book club]]
Regular backups of the website were quickly established, and a plan to distribute them freely on the Internet (so that ProleWiki could be rehosted in case it went down) was studied but put on hold due to the effort required to enact that plan, which was not deemed urgent.

In the fall of 2022, the administration started a work group program, which was aimed at delegating some tasks (outside of editing articles) to the editorship. An Agitprop group was created, which editors could join to help create content for social media. Since June 2023, all [[ProleWiki:Trusted Editor Permissions|Trusted editors]] are opted into the agitprop group. This work group structure lets editors branch out to areas of interest to them and not limit themselves strictly to editing the wiki. Editors are able to propose almost any plan they wish to be involved with that would be beneficial for ProleWiki, and the administrators help them with everything they need to set up these self-governing groups.

Around the same time, editors became more involved in approving account requests. When someone requests an account on Prolewiki, their vetting answers are systematically passed on to the editorship in the Discord server who can vote with a simple yes or no. The administration provides context if necessary, and abides by the results of the vote. This was made possible by the growing interest in ProleWiki that happened in 2022, as the Discord server was mostly inactive until some users joined in September and breathed new life into it.

In January 2023, ProleWiki made great strides in its goal of establishing proper [[democratic centralism]] in the project so that it would not depend on a single person for survival. Co-administrator CriticalResist was given access to the entirety of the ProleWiki accounts and started learning how to debug MediaWiki software on a VPS. This meant that in case either of the two administrators was unable to participate on the project in the future, the other could always keep ProleWiki alive.

Around the same time, editor [[Comrade:RedCustodian|RedCustodian]] created a book club that was managed entirely by himself,<ref>{{Web citation|author=@felipeforte|newspaper=Lemmygrad|title=Follow-up post about ProleWiki’s book club|date=2023-02-13|url=https://lemmygrad.ml/post/511125|retrieved=2023-02-18}}</ref> with members of the book club voting on what to read and when.

=== Fundraiser ===
In February 2023, ProleWiki began its first ever fundraiser to expand its storage space from 40 to 80 gigabytes. The goal of the fundraiser was $528 USD, enough to cover the hosting costs of this new server for two years.<ref name=":4">{{Web citation|author=@CriticalResist8|newspaper=Lemmygrad|title=Comrade, ProleWiki has big plans and needs your donation!|date=2023-02-18|url=https://lemmygrad.ml/post/514336|retrieved=2023-02-18}}</ref> The administration has been completely transparent about where the money is going;<ref>CriticalResist, Forte (2023-02-21).: [[ProleWiki:Donate|''ProleWiki:Donate'']]. ProleWiki. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230221224322/https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/ProleWiki:Donate Archived] from the original on 2023-02-21. Retrieved on 2023-02-21.</ref> it has also decided that, should any excess be raised, the contributors would be allowed to vote on what the surplus is spent on.<ref name=":4" />

The first goal (one year of hosting) was reached in under 24 hours after comrade [[Comrade:Deogeo|Deogeo]] made a $200 USD donation. Then, with help from Lemmygrad and [[Hexbear]] users, ProleWiki raised their stated goal of $528 USD in just 5 days.

== Social media ==
* [https://discord.com/invite/ZQTBNRU9v5 Discord]
* [https://www.facebook.com/groups/747910359442297 Facebook]
* [https://lemmygrad.ml/c/prolewiki Lemmygrad]
* [https://matrix.to/#/%23prolewiki:matrix.org Matrix]
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/prolewiki/ Reddit]
* [https://www.tiktok.com/@prolewiki TikTok]
* [https://twitter.com/prolewiki Twitter]
* [https://www.youtube.com/@prolewiki/featured YouTube]

== References ==
[[Category:Wikis]]
[[Category:Online encyclopedias]]
<references />
[[Category:Socialist media outlets]]
[[Category:Online left]]