Oh God, oh shit, I said I wasn't going to do it. I said I wasn't going to start a China struggle session. Already getting flashbacks to the Discord.

But something just doesn't sit right with me and wanted to get some clarification here...

My question is this: why does China ban labor organizing/unions?

Is this yikes/intentional/actually a good thing?

(Yeah, I do know that labor unions are not always unequivocally good and sometimes they act more like middle management than as representatives of the workers... but democratizing the workplace seems like a no-brainer for any socialist project.)

Thoughts?

  • gammison [none/use name]
    3·
    4 years ago

    It's not that they're dumb, it's that the political speech the state endorses must be Marxist, so anything these economists say, even if it is neoliberal, ends up getting couched in Marxist language as newspeak.

    • anthm17 [he/him]
      1·
      4 years ago

      They are no dumber than Americans.

      Pushing neoliberalism is dumb.

      • gammison [none/use name]
        2·
        4 years ago

        It is dumb, just saying that these economists are not just misinterpreting Marx somehow. They are are purposefully using Marxist language because it's essentially a newspeak inside the party, almost anything is fine to say as long as you can say it with Marxist words.