Posted on 04/08/2014 7:43:04 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Capitalism, no, entrepreneurialism, yes, and state planning that developed from concensus rather than dictated by Mao and perhaps one or two others. When farmers were actually given control over part of the land, productivity mushroomed. State directed irrigation, nitrogen fertalizer and newly developed seeds helped. The situation was worse than just eating grass. The bodies of the dead were actually dug up and eaten by the starving. Look for the book Tombstone, by a Chinese researcher who had inside access to information, records, interviews, etc.
Years ago, my late husband was visiting friends at the Amana Colonies, a primative socialist/communist religious colony in Iowa and other places (also producers of Amana appliances). He watched the man assigned to plowing that day take out the tractor, and later run out of fuel when he was far across the field. He walked back, got a gallon, went back to the tractor, drove back to the barn, filled the tank and continued plowing. At least an hour of work lost. He said no self respecting independent farmer would do anything so stupid as starting plowing without filling his gas tank. Entrepreneurship is more efficient than either socialism/communism or many large scale capitalist enterprises.
Yeah, or they have enough money to buy up our farmland, or our food production capabilities. Somebody said that the Chinese bought up Smithfield, our largest pork producer (besides congress). Look where the price of pork has been going lately (sky high). We build housing developments over prime farmland in this country.
It's a fairy tale until you check the historical record.
When was the last time a capitalist country experienced a famine?
Probably never.
Maybe Ireland in 1845, but I'm not sure Ireland actually had a capitalist economy in 1845.
Under Socialism, people line up for food.
Under Capitalism, the food lines up for people.
It’s quite simple — Mao died. Mao was a mass-murderer, just like all Marxist dictators. He was succeeded by managerial state types. Historically, China has always been ruled by one or more big fist regimes.
The Three Gorges Dam, which has been excoriated by enviros, has as one of its purposes rerouting Yangtze river water to the vanishing rivers of the north. That drying is the tail end of the long-gone last ice age.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South%E2%80%93North_Water_Transfer_Project
Thanks Jet Jaguar.
Capitalist countries do have greater divides between rich and poor... but they also have richer poor.
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