633
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2025
633 points (85.7% liked)
Memes
52250 readers
1574 users here now
Rules:
- Be civil and nice.
- Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
Fun fact: It's actually possible for two countries to both be authoritarian!
We Need To Talk About "Authoritarianism"
The US killed a million innocent people in Iraq just a few years ago, and is *currently * drone bombing several countries in ME and north africa, and is currently supporting the apartheid state of israel with billions of dollars in military aid.
The PRC has not been in a war since its skirmish with Vietnam in 1979.
The US has a network of > 800 military bases across the globe, and has been involved in regime change in nearly every country.
Which one is authoritarian?
I feel like this is shifting the focus to imperialism, where the US is overwhelmingly and undeniably worse.
However, domestically, if you wanna pretend that someone as a random citizen, has any chance of receiving political representation in China, well you enjoy your fantasy.
The US and China are both deeply undemocratic places. I'm saying this as someone from neither country.
Anyone who's actually been to China would know this. It is authoritarian. It's not even something viewed as bad by most people in China. It's just the way things are there.
There is pretty strong support for the government there, albeit that could be argued as product of censorship, repression and also genuine support. Many see the CCP as having done a lot of good things which they are grateful for, which in addition to the bad things, in fairness, they have done.
I'm getting kinda tired of some leftists knee jerking "China Good", just as much as I'm getting kinda tired of the "China Bad" crowd, when the truth is neither wholly good nor wholly bad.
We can be leftists and not have a hard-on for any country claiming to be socialist, you know
"Authoritarian" is largely a meaningless term. All it really means is one group using force against another group, but it doesn't say anything about which group is which. In the US Empire, the capitalists use the state to crush the workers, and export genocide and chaos to the global south. In the PRC, the working class uses the state to keep the capitalists in check as they progress and develop along socialist lines. This stark difference in which class is in power is shown with immense popular support in the PRC:
I'm a big defender of China when the "China Bad" crowd comes out, but this graph is meaningless beyond what people's perceptions are.
Real trade unions are banned. All must be part of the party, workers rights are routinely not enforced, and given the lattitude the government has to act, there isn't really much of an excuse.
The CCP enjoy massive support, though, this is undeniable. The reasons for this support is debatable and vary from person to person.
I for one, very much enjoy when the Chinese government does things in line with my socialist ideals. But let's not pretend like they're actually keeping the capitalists in check. There are many, many billionaires in China, something that ought not be possible under an actual socialist country.
It doesn't take a genius to look at their system of voting to quickly conclude that you don't really have a say, the People's Congress functions as a rubber stamp for what the inner party has already decided.
Again, my opinions aside, people in China generally are supportive of the government at this present time.
The graph shows that people generally feel they have more democratic input in China than peoole do in the US, France, and Britain. That's a valuable metric.
Secondly, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions is a real union, it fights for worker's rights against the capitalists that still exist in the primary stage of socialism they are in. Yes, it is affiliated with the CPC, and that's a good thing. If unions were allowed to be independent, then they would be directly supported by western governments against the socialist system. China exists in a world where capitalism is dominant and constantly undermining socialism.
Third, capitalists are kept in check. They exist, including billionaires, because China is in the primary stage of socialism. The point of socialism isn't to make everything equal, in the context of the overall economy China is still dramatically improving the rights and well-being of its working class as its core focus. As China develops, private property is sublimated into public property, if the capitalists had control then this wouldn't really be possible at scale.
Overall, I think you should research more on why China does things you may not agree with on the surface. Usually it's either for an understandable reason, or is something that is bad, but is improving (like LGBTQIA+ rights).
It's possible, but it's objectively not the case. Don't take my word for it though, it's what people actually living in China say.
Indeed, one can be authoritarian towards workers and people all around the globe while other can be authoritarian towards their national and foreign capitalists.