China also holds a stranglehold over many rare earth minerals we need for our war machine

The ideal situation in the EU is for them to go ahead and start WW3 just in time for the UK to waffle on their Brexit deal again, and the war to drag the UK in just long enough to flush out all the lefties and make them decide "oh shit, we DO want Brexit now, because we're anti-war", then let them back out in a kneejerk sudden hard-brexit deal.

Then everything I already said happen in the EU.

And... after that... let... capitalist china... get good trade deals with the EU? I think? Not sure how this would be a bad thing, if we take Cat at her word that china is capitalists now.

There are many private companies in China.

i don't know about command economy. the central government isn't directing quotas and production goals.

but they do have override power

and can interfere freely in any "private" business for government purposes.

Canada is exerts more communist/socialist control over industry than China.

Yes, privatized companies are a recent thing in China, but the grip of the Iron Fist is still strong.

i think the nazis would look at the chinese economy and say they had the right idea

The US exerts control over economies as well. Take a look at how we use governmental policies to prop up industries like ethanol.

not run by government fiat, but subordinated to the government.

China is still heavily communist and the leadership demonstrates it. The thing is they've realized that a capitalist approach to their economy allows it to flourish in a superior manner. They are still communists at their core and in all of their beliefs and power structure.

Agreed, @JustTom . See, I can say it, and not just over GLBT stuff.

😃

I think you are mistaking communist for authoritarian

Fascists don't generally have strong parties. They have strong leaders.

I think first people are mistaking socialism and communism

That said, China follows Marx and Lenin about as much as Donald Trump does.

"The goal of Socialism is Communism" - Vladimir Lenin

Maoism, Stalinism etc are Socialist systems. There are no communist systems because they die in the Socialist transition state

It's about strength, not ideology

I don't think anyone in the CCP actually believes in the worker's paradise

They've totally bought in the "capitalism with Chinese characteristics"

Chinese characteristics means a strong central state and the whole over the individual

But they still masturbate every night to the photos of Mao.

Who here has been to china in the last several years?

The CCP looks to the emperors of old. What was the Mandate of Heaven" ? To keep the rivers from flooding.

I know multiple people from there, who have visited there recently

Why?

Big public works projects were proof of authority to lead

My wife has been there. She's an Asian Studies major. Focus on Japan, Korea, and China.

My parents were a few years back and in many ways they are far more advanced than the west. Especially in regard to amount of corporate regulations.

[Virgin China vs. Chad Japan]

Honestly, the CCP is more successor to a dynasty than to Marx

Either way, fuck Marx and the CCP.

Rare earth minerals arent as important as everyone likes to pretend they are

They aren't?

China still owns 95% of the trade for rare earth minerals.

Hard to build certain electronics and radars without them.

More importantly china's housing bubble dwarfs the american one

Oh, China's economy is a time bomb. So is their resource issue, especially in regards to water and women.