History’s mistake: China’s implosion into socialism

Guangzhou Guide | Beijing Visitor - China Travel Guide
Guangzhou, China

My father told me horror stories about communism.  He left China after it imploded on itself (e.g., the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward).  He will never forget, and perhaps never forgive what the Communists did to destroy China and the Chinese people.  From 1949 to 1978, China was trapped in poverty.  People starved to death.  The People’s Revolution was a disaster.

Here in the west, we must never forget the horrors of socialism.  We must never allow socialism to creep into our social consciousness as a viable alternative.  It cannot ever become an alternative.  If implemented, the ideas of Bernie Sanders, the Green New Deal, etc., would be horrifying for any free nation.  It would set the nation on a course going backwards.

History is a good teacher.  Back in 1949, the Chinese people had bought into the lie that socialism/communism was going to be good for them. China wasn’t doing so well due to economic colonialism.  The tea trade, opium, and slave trade happening around the world had sunk China into a deeper state of social confusion.  It needed a way out and the Chinese thought that perhaps Communism could offer a way out of their state.

Maoist Communists got into power.  Their authoritarian regime inflicted huge economic, social, political and structural damage upon China.  It got worse.  It had set itself back for many generations and is still far behind what it could have been if China had not taken the route of socialism.  It has taken decades and generations to fix the big mess it created for itself.  It is still in recovery mode today.

TIME Magazine Cover: Teng Hsiao-p'ing, Man of the year -- Jan. 1, 1979Since 1978, Deng Xiaoping’s reforms enabled a collosal reversal away from its old-style communism.  During the last four decades, China has undergone a huge economic reform due to Deng Xiaoping.  It’s market system has enabled 800 million people to climb out of poverty creating the largest middle class in the world.

It’s truly an economic miracle that is happening today. However, this ought to be received as a testament that socialism does not work. Do not misunderstand this as a credit due to socialism.   China’s economic miracle happened because of free-market enterprise within the special economic zones (though couched within a centralized governing structure).  Insiders have already rejected old style socialism while remaining loyal to The Party.

An extraordinary social reform has also taken place.  Though still imperfect today, society is much freer today than when under Mao’s Communist rule.  There are far fewer travel restrictions.  Millions of Chinese have received education from abroad, and there will be millions more in the future.   In 2018, 134 million Chinese tourists traveled overseas.

Today, there are also a technological and infrastructural reforms. China is becoming a technological giant.  It is becoming a leader in robotics, artificial intelligence, and a giant in green solar energy.  Today, there are already more billionaires in China than in the U.S.

China is reforming the country incrementally from the inside.  Gradual change is safer and more secure than a sudden change.  Another revolution into free-market capitalism might cause a break-up of the country into smaller regions.

Akin to its Confucius history, Chinese people are respectful of their own political history and father of reform, Deng Xiaoping.  They will not jeopardize their gains by making too much of a sudden shift. A gradual shift will eventually happen (but we just won’t tell them).

Again, the reason for this post?  The proposed Green New Deal.  I know we’re not looking at old-style communism. But we must reject this entire philosophy as a whole.  Socialism in any form does not work.  Capitalism is proven to work.

When we look at what is happening in today’s modern China, we must be factor in that China had huge setbacks due to socialism.  If it were not for communism, China could be where South Korea is today. East Asians are smart, industrious, and have a drive to succeed in every way.  They will succeed socially, economically, politically, and hopefully, spiritually.

As a Christian, I pray for spiritual prosperity to lead the nation into true success.  Without a deep and guiding spirituality, China will eventually lose steam and sink into apathy and indifference.  This has already happened in many western nations in Europe and sections of American culture.

China has recognized the mistake it made in 1949.  Today’s nation states ought to remember the mistakes made throughout history.  What Russia could have been is another story in itself.  And what are still today’s Cuba and North Korea are utter disasters.

China: Surviving the Camps | by Zha Jianying | NYR Daily | The New York Review of Books

As in the Soviet Union, under Chairman Mao, the educated Chinese were either forcibly removed from their homes and confined to labor camps, jailed or killed.  All property owners had their property confiscated.  Anyone with property and money had their property seized.  The fortunate ones fled early to other parts of Asia like Singapore.

Anyone with skills, talent and gifts were considered to be the elite bourgois, and therefore, seen as suspect.  If they refused to join and pledge loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party, they were either jailed, beaten or killed, or all three.

As a result, millions of people starved to death because of this stubborn socialistic ideology.  Millions of people were stuck indefinitely in poverty.  By the time they discovered Communion/Socialism was not the solution, it was far too late.  They were now subjected under the new political ruling class.  The Communist Party used fear and intimidation to control the masses–even entire families and churches.  As a result, the church went underground.

Note, even today, the regime is still demolishing large evangelical churches that refuse to conform to Party ideologies because they believe in God as their supreme leader rather than the State (NY Times article and UK Express article).


There was no escape because no one was left with money to start businesses. There was no one left with education and capital to invent new things or be creative with their talents.

Marxist ideologies of making everyone the same and economically equal was wrong-headed.  Socialism failed the millions of people they wanted to help escape poverty.   Their own poverty became more entrenched.  Adults suffered.  Children suffered.  The poor became poorer.

The only rich people were the Communist officials who accepted bribes. The result was far worse.  China imploded into itself.  No one had the courage to complain against the Communist Party.  The Party became god.  The Party rewarded those who reported on family members, friends, and neighbors who were sympathetic to the bourgeois.  The Communist state encouraged Party members to betray their own family and friends.  Very sad.

In the early days of Communism, they controlled the government-run media to feed the people Party propaganda. North Korea is using a similar propaganda media machine today.  (Today, CNN and CNBC are also leftist propaganda media-machines in America, minus the centralized government-control).  They do not critique their own socialistic policies. They just play the game and report what they are told.  News agencies are authentically fake news.  There is nothing more fake than the authoritarian socialistic propaganda machines.

Maoist China and today’s North Korea know how to put on a charade.  Men, women and children are told to put on happy faces, clean up the streets and add a new coat of paint.  Make everything look new and happy, while deep inside, the pain of socialism continues to hurt.  It’s like a make-believe Disneyworld, but socialist-style.  The people of Cuba, Vietnam and North Korea know it’s all a lie.  They want to change but live in fear of the Communist state.

Liberals, leftists, and socialists have not helped anyone except themselves. Look at Venezuela and what they’ve done to their own country today. It has self-imploded, following in the footsteps of other socialist countries.  It hasn’t learned from history’s mistakes. The people propelled crooked leaders into power who benefit from their own corrupt system of government.

It amazes me that an entire nation can become stuck in its own endless cycle of corruption without an access of escape.  Thank God we have representative democracies, or a democratic republic in the U.S.   We can freely elect new representatives into government to replace undesirable representatives.  It’s a dynamic system of government.  Socialistic authoritarian countries have no free elections.  Fellow ideologues are appointed into power.  This has begun to happen in the once free city-state of Hong Kong, thus, the yellow umbrella movement in 2014.

Does anything good ever come out of pure Communism and socialism?  Name one country where it has.

I would not label today’s China as a pure Communist system (even though they are in name).  They do not have old-age pensions or socialized medicare.  Seniors and the poor actually have to fend for themselves, or they need to be taken care of by their children.

In actual practice, Maoist and Stalinist Communism had dug a deep pit for the people.  The rich become poor; and the poor have no chance of becoming rich.  There is no middle class.  There is only a large mass of impoverished people.  For those who wait for the dream, there will only be darkness at the end of the tunnel.  Once they use up people’s money and intellectual capital, there will be nothing left to share.  There is no incentive to create wealth merely to be taken away.  Everyone will remain poor.

This is the same fate awaiting for people fighting for the Green New Deal and other socialistic-type parties.  Industries will grow weaker and eventually collapse into themselves due to their lack of social and economic liberties.

Socialism’s goals and ideals may appear attractive on the outside.  It spouts false propaganda giving false hope to the poor, the less-educated, and the disadvantaged.  We must educate ourselves by learning about history.  Some of our contemporary politicians today, e.g., Barack Obama, Pierre Trudeau (father of Justin Trudeau), and Bernie Sanders were educated by leftist ideologues at leftist institutions.  They are idealogues with ideas that do not actually work.

They did not see the full scope of history along with their mistakes. They were also misguided by the charade of socialism, and by the omission of Communist errors.  Have you ever heard them talk about the tragic errors of historic Communism?  No!  It never even occurs on their level consciousness.  You will only hear and learn about these historic mistakes by reading and learning from free-market sources.

With every generation, socialism will try to rear its ugly head.  They might tack on a fresh and hip label: “Democratic…” or “People’s…”  It’s really just mascara and lipstick to make it look attractive to the younger generations.  These labels are a facade for something sinister hidden within.   Each generation must be forewarned of the potential dangers lurking.  May our generation today not make the same mistakes that were made in history.  Reject any and all forms of socialism.

The majority of Americans have rejected the socialist ideas of Bernie Sanders.  I hope Americans will also reject this new Green New Deal and the leftist ideology of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ed Markey.

Socialism will never stop trying to reinvent itself.  It will don a new disguise, try out a new look, and call itself something fresh and exciting.  Believe me, there is nothing new under the sun.  Don’t be fooled.  The mascara, the blush, and lipstick will never cover up its hideousness on the inside.  On the exterior, it might sound and look appealing, but on the inside, it’s all the same.  It will utterly fail the people and set nations back for decades and generations.

America, please do not fall for socialism.  Doing so would be at America’s peril.  Same goes for Europe, Canada and other countries who might find these ideas appealing.  Their policies would set nations back, as socialism did to China.

America must stand, if even alone, to be that light in the darkness.  Free-market capitalism balanced with people’s love and compassion for their fellow human will always win.

Christians in China’s house churches still being persecuted

For people who think that the Communist government in modern China is no longer persecuting Christians who worship in house churches, here is very recent news.  Though China (PRC) seems to be modernizing, their human rights and freedom of religion is still far behind.

By The Associated Press | The Canadian Press 2 hour 51 minutes ago

BEIJING, China – Beijing police on Sunday detained at least a dozen worshippers from a Christian house church who were trying to hold services in a public space after they were evicted from their usual place of worship.


About a dozen people were escorted by police onto an empty city bus and driven away.

Christians in China are required to worship in state-run churches, but house churches are becoming increasingly popular, despite being technically illegal and subject to police harassment.

Shouwang had been holding services in a Beijing restaurant until last week, when they were evicted from that venue.
