that they can’t imagine a society that doesn’t work that way

Well I’m imagining a classless, borderless society where everyone’s needs are met and it is fantastic.

You think this is a normal way for a government to be

Nothing about the US government is normal unless in the context of an Empire rapidly approaching the point of collapse.

and you think the smart thing to do is assume everyone is like the US

I have enough knowledge to know that in both better and worse situations, other countries do things often very different and assume as much but try not to assume details. Luckily I’m well read.

No, Cowbee in particular. I get along quite nice with communist for the most part.

China isn’t capitalist

That’s delusional

the working classes are in charge of the state

The party is in charge of the state. The working class have vanishingly little power.

A revolution would be devastating for the Chinese working classes.

That’s what the Ruling Class in every country says. Can’t let everyday people get too uppity

You’re whole persona is pushing the party line and pushing back against any dissent. I didn’t expect you to see any evidence.

Just years of reading. That you bring up the anti-corruption campaign means you’re at least familiar with allegations that Xi unevenly applied the campaign against his political opponents. As a side not, I’ll say the anti-corruption campaigns in China are definitely popular and also one clear situation where improvements in computer technology made a major advance in society and peoples quality of life. Corruption of low level officials was hard to root out when the people would be making complaints to other corrupt low level officials and risking retaliation in the process. Computer technology helped bypass that.

I didn’t seriously consider that they would just like I wouldn’t seriously consider White Americans in the 1950’s launching a revolution. China has high propaganda and they’re at the part of both industrialization and capitalism where average people see benefit from both.

Marx overly focused on one criteria to describe class. It’s ok to accept ownership/working classes as a useful tool for understanding the world but other systems also offer useful lessons for understanding the world in different ways and contexts.

They have a Strongman because Xi went to great efforts to sideline people or policies that served as a check to his power. Something that would have been unthinkable in China at any point after Mao and before Xi.

Class traditionally

It only refers to how we engage with societal production in a handful of belief systems such as Marxism. These are different from how Anthropologists view class which is different from how sociologists view class and all of the above are different from how many older societies viewed class.

Maybe the Chinese proletariat can launch a concurrent revolution to overthrow Xi.

Trading late stage capitalism for mid stage capitalism and a pre-existing merger of state and corporate power doesn’t sound like a permanent fix. Also, deposing a strongman in favor a system that has reestablished it’s leadership as a strongman is not an improvement.

My dudes, you have nothing to lose but your Chains.

MLs are essentially incapable of arguing in good faith. You know how Christians quote to bible to “prove” their religion is true? MLs are the political version of that.

Valid meme but hopefully it doesn’t minimize the plight of Uyghurs in peoples minds.

Small Government to them is defined as not spending tax money to help people.