Miscellaneous News

plawolf

Lieutenant General
Isn't that exactly "capitalism vs. socialism"? In Capitalism, the state serve the owner of the capital, oligarchs. In socialism, the state serve the people who collectively own the production means.

As I said, there is a lot of overlap, but at their cores, socialism is concerned with how society should be run; while capitalism is focused on how the economy should be run.

My point wasn’t to try to refine what each are and represent, since there is a wide spectrum of varying interpretations for both anyways; but rather to make the simple point that the two are not mutually exclusive. You can have both operate perfectly well within the same country, as can be seen in real life examples in Europe and China.

Americans are just force fed a steady diet of brainwashing propaganda to distort what each means to the point where both are now effectively trigger words that evoke irrationally strong emotional responses in most ordinary Americans who don’t actually really understand the underlying fundamentals or actual operations of either.

If politicians want the people to be irrationally opposed to something, calling it socialist/communist is enough for a surprisingly large section of society. Conversely, slapping capitalism branding on something is enough to generate unwavering support.
 

solarz

Brigadier
If politicians want the people to be irrationally opposed to something, calling it socialist/communist is enough for a surprisingly large section of society. Conversely, slapping capitalism branding on something is enough to generate unwavering support.

That's just the result of propaganda, it doesn't bear any relevance to the actual definitions of socialism and capitalism.

As I said, there is a lot of overlap, but at their cores, socialism is concerned with how society should be run; while capitalism is focused on how the economy should be run.

Not really, Socialism is having the means of production controlled by the people, while Capitalism is having the means of production controlled by private entities.

My point wasn’t to try to refine what each are and represent, since there is a wide spectrum of varying interpretations for both anyways; but rather to make the simple point that the two are not mutually exclusive. You can have both operate perfectly well within the same country, as can be seen in real life examples in Europe and China.

You can have socialist policies in capitalist societies, and free market policies in socialist countries. However, the real distinction between socialist countries and capitalist countries is who calls the shots: the people, or the capitalists.
 

taxiya

Brigadier
Registered Member
As I said, there is a lot of overlap, but at their cores, socialism is concerned with how society should be run; while capitalism is focused on how the economy should be run.

My point wasn’t to try to refine what each are and represent, since there is a wide spectrum of varying interpretations for both anyways; but rather to make the simple point that the two are not mutually exclusive. You can have both operate perfectly well within the same country, as can be seen in real life examples in Europe and China.

Americans are just force fed a steady diet of brainwashing propaganda to distort what each means to the point where both are now effectively trigger words that evoke irrationally strong emotional responses in most ordinary Americans who don’t actually really understand the underlying fundamentals or actual operations of either.

If politicians want the people to be irrationally opposed to something, calling it socialist/communist is enough for a surprisingly large section of society. Conversely, slapping capitalism branding on something is enough to generate unwavering support.
That is social democracy in most of Europe. It is capitalism wearing the cloak of socialism. You are right about the difference between "Social Democracy" and "Capitalism" because they are the same thing. The "serving people" in Social Democracy is to serve everyone including the oligarchs, in the order of their capital value. In this definetion, Democrat in the US can be regarded as leaning towards Social Democracy just avoiding the name which apparently is a taboo.

The kind of socialism that I and Solarz talked about is scientific socialism aka the first stage of communism, aka Marx-Leninism. The central difference between this one and capitalism&social democracy are not about how to run things, but who owns the means of production. The serving people in this socialism is to serve the owner of the society, that is +90% of the population.

I won't try to claim who owns the word "socialism" because Social Democrat share a common root with Communist, but the difference after divorce are huge and can not be regarded as the same.
 

windsclouds2030

Senior Member
Registered Member
The Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang delivered a keynote speech on China-US relations at the welcome event held by the National Committee on US-China Relations Board of Directors. Let me share with you some highlights of his speech.

Qin Gang (born 1966) is a new ambassador, the successor to the well-known envoy, Cui Tiankai (born 1952), the longest-serving Chinese Ambassador to the United States, a role he filled from April 2013 to June 2021.

This year marks the *50th anniversary of the Ping-Pong diplomacy*. In the age of estrangement and confrontation, we had to rely on the small ping-pong ball to move the “big ball” of China-US relations. But now, many “small balls” are moving around this “big ball”.

*China never bets its own future on other countries*. We only want to surpass ourselves. We never take surpassing the US as our goal, and we never have the ambition to challenge and displace America, or to seek hegemony in the world.

*China does not bet against America. We are glad to see America resolve its problems by itself, not by undercutting other countries, or by prescribing medication for others.* I believe that both countries can benefit from the development and prosperity of the other side.

Some believe America needs to deal with China from a position of strength, and it can win the new “Cold War” against China, just as it defeated the Soviet Union. This shows gross ignorance of history as well as gross ignorance of China.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) enforces strict discipline over itself. With over *95 million members*, it always bears in mind its original aspiration to pursue happiness for the people. It shares one mind and works together with the people.

Some people believe that cooperation is being phased out by competition and confrontation. This is a very misleading perception for the prospects of China-US relations.

*China and the US should be clear about each other’s bottom lines and show mutual respect. The Chinese people value sovereignty and territorial integrity as much as their own lives. There is no room for compromise or backdown on this issue.*

China and the US should maintain dialogue and manage differences. We need to realize the stable development of our relations. The best way to prevent crises is to address their root causes, at least not to rub salt into the wound.

China and the US should remove disturbances and focus on cooperation. We can build up small steps and address easier problems first, so as to find the entry point to improve our relations and expand cooperation.

Released on 2021.09.01

 
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