I know that I live in the belly of the beast and most 'news' I hear is propaganda, but I don't want to base my opinions simply on the opposite of imperialist American talking points. How communist is China in reality? I know that they've seemingly done very well for the quality of life of their middle class, but I still hear a lot of people talking about poor Chinese people making iPhones for pennies. Also, with their strong global power, are they not participating in the same kind of imperialism? I was under the assumption that conservatives crying about "communist china" were silly because I thought they were essentially just a form of state-commanded capitalism.

Cuba I'm sure is too small to really be doing wrong on the global stage, but I'm curious about the actual state of things there. Are they still poor and corrupt due to the brutal treatment by America during the Cold War? Or have things improved there and America just wants us to think they haven't because "communism bad".

I know I'm sort of going against the grain with these questions, but I'm not looking to stir the pot. I'm fully ready to embrace the idea that China is much better than American propaganda claims, I just want to see some evidence / hear some good points to support that.