Not just here, but also on reddit and other social media.
Sure, there is a propaganda war brewing wherein a lot of Western media are pushing exaggerated narratives, Adrian Zenz is a theological dope of an academic, and the CIA has a vested interest in accelerating conflict, etc. but surely there's got to be room to also address the shortcomings of China as well? Whether it's about LGBTQ+ issues, or the exploits of Chinese capitalism, or being able to criticize or make fun of Xi, I see posts here routinely and systemically brigaded and comments downvoted to oblivion that even sniff at criticism of China.
I consider myself a free agent, and China's meteoric rise gives me some hope for a brighter tomorrow (in contrast to the US), but this blatant campaign of social media manipulation gives me pause for concern. It just screams insecurity and makes me not trust what feels like a counter-propaganda narrative. (Mods, please never get rid of the downvote counter.)
Anyway, here's hoping for a brighter future, but please let ideas breathe.
Thanks for listening.
They act like if you criticize a socialist state you're helping the CIA which is I guess true in a negligible way, but that ignores that the anarchists, trotskyists, immediatists, left coms and maoists criticizing socialist states are the same folks who are often the first to smash up career centers, blockade arms fairs and burn their draft cards.
It adds to the red scare that is currently occurring, and is a waste of time. Like, nothing we say can affect China, so why waste the energy that should be spent organizing?
Because our aspirations are the guiding myths for our organizing. If our aspirations are the end of the division of labor, the end of commodities, life for its own sake our organizing is going to be a lot more ambitious than if our goal is to create another capitalist state with good welfare and less imperialism. Welfare and anti imperialism are fantastic goals, but the Christians were fighting for heaven and the Bolsheviks for the end of class society. These are the kinds of myths that move masses.
There might be a healthier way of doing this, without uncritically supporting the CCP.
We pull the baby from the bathwater, pointing out the obvious benefits of the positive aspects: not having landlords, central economic planning, and state-owned enterprises have allowed the PRC's economy to shut down to actually quarantine covid patients and come out a couple months later smelling like fucking roses, not to mention their desert greening project and slow march towards decarbonization which might be worth emulating in western Green New Deal programs. We can point to the Cubans thriving despite decades of sanctions and blockades, providing healthcare, housing, and education and living incomes to all, and contributing to the cutting edge of medical research. There are probably numerous other positive elements in currently existing not-quite-socialist states which we can also point to as worth emulating and preserving in a completely socialist state.
We can do all of this and argue they have pieces of the puzzle needed for socialism that western and fully-capitalist economies are so often missing, while acknowledging the objective obstacles to full socialism and remaining critical of the subjective shortcomings of workers' states that emerged from objective pressures (e.g. the Dengist turn).
The exact same thing could be said about defending China. Like why project about their 5-year plans or whatever, same navel-gazing futility.