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Hard to swallow pills
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this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
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What do you mean that mechanic doesn't exist in the same way for China? Are you talking like China has achieved a classless utopia situation?
No, the arms manufacturers just don't have the same level of influence over the government and armed forces that they do in America, and the people in the government who decide whether to drop bombs won't personally get rich if they buy more bombs.
That isn't something unique to China btw but basically almost every country except USA and a few others.
Do you think that dynamic wouldn't exist for any country, including China, that had as much world influence as the US does now?
I mean- yeah, the birdcage model has been supplanted by majority public ownership at this point, the same incentives that create the military industrial complex don't exist- if you'd like, i would recommend reading "Economy and Class Structure of German Fascism" which can be a handy reference point for the US military complex.
Saying that China doesn't have a MIC is a non-sequitur. The incentive is power. If acquiring or maintaining power in China requires military expansion, it will happen.
If you want power over another country, attacking them is a very inefficient path. You will take losses, and you won't be able to take their resources intact. The easier and cheaper method is to just bribe their leaders into selling you whatever you want.
The US starts wars even when it doesn't need to, because there are a handful of companies that stand to make a lot of money selling weapons. No other country has such a large and influential military lobby, so other countries tend not to start wars for private profit.
Except imperialism is actually incredibly inefficient in the long term. Western nations become imperialist due to the contradictions created by capitalism.There is a reason why China's foreign policy is centered around mutual advancement.