"China: The Roots of Madness" (1967). Worth Watching Documentary

[kankan326]

How can you say the US is more of an oligarchy than China?

Are a few rich people in the US really more powerful than basically the almost permanent inner circle of the Communist party? I don't think so.

You can however claim that true power in the US can come with popularity. No one is questioning that someone like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, or the late Steve Jobs holds more high support by the people than most politicians...and if they had some personal agenda they wanted pushed through the Government I'm sure they could gather enough popular support to make it happen.

But if you were some old crony billionaire who was trying to secretly push something unpopular he would likely get outed and given such PR damage that he wouldn't be able to live the life he wanted anymore.

Do you think "a few rich people" and communist party are equal? You should say "the class of rich vs communist party"

US political structure is designed to serve rich people. Democracy, freedom of speech, free media, law system. All these can be manipulated by money.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Japanese, they wanted to literally eliminate Chinese race or make them forever slaves as Japanese

Apparently the Japanese were not anywhere near as efficient at elimination between the years 1937-1945 as the Nazis.

This is because US is a feudal states. The criminals are bosses. The police work for criminals.

LOL! Oh please!
If anything it seems far more Chinese politicians embezzle millions for years and flee the country than the US.

This is a little harder to do in the US when the people are assessed taxes by their local governments and attend city/town meetings to hear the results.

In China nobody probably even knows the budget of their city or how money is spent because it isn't coming directly out of their pockets.

When you are paying thousands in local taxes out of you pocket you are going to actively keep an eye on things.

 

[kankan326]

In China nobody probably even knows the budget of their city or how money is spent because it isn't coming directly out of their pockets.

When you are paying thousands in local taxes you are going to actively keep an eye on things.

In China we see tax was used to build roads, high speed railways and many mega projects. We see Ev and many cutting edge industries got subsidized. Where the tax went in US? Which really confuses me

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

In China we see tax was used to build roads, high speed railways and many mega projects. We see Ev and many cutting edge industries got subsidized. Where the tax went in US? Which really confuses me

How can it confuse you when the town spells it all out in a public budget.

The thing is China is notorious for the central government handing money to local governments and then the local politicians pocket it. Nobody in the town is complaining because it doesn't come out of their pockets so why should they knock themselves out complaining to the higher ups. This is how corruption gets rampant.

If people are handing $thousands to their town and the roads aren't paved and the schools are not kept in good shape people are going to start screaming. It's not like they are only assessed $5. Where I am it is not uncommon for people to be paying over $10,000/yr for the town upkeep. This is a reason why the suburbs are mostly full of more wealthier people than cities..and they are usually in better shape.

Now there can be corruption in big US cities where many people are renters (and thus the absentee landlord is paying the local taxes) and so don't give a crap about anything the government does because they don't see the tax bill directly. They just think the rent payment goes into the landlord's pocket (who likely lives outside the city and probably petitions the city to keep the taxes low).

 

[kankan326]

How can it confuse you when the town spells it all out in a public budget.

The thing is China is notorious for the central government handing money to local governments and then the local politicians pocket it. Nobody in the town is complaining because it doesn't come out of their pockets so why should they knock themselves out complaining to the higher ups. This is how corruption gets rampant.

If people are handing $thousands to their town and the roads aren't paved and the schools are not kept in good shape people are going to start screaming. It's not like $5.

There can be corruption in big cities where many people are renters and don't give a crap about anything.

So all you did is staying where you are even with more tax income than China. Something you don't know. China has been transferring tax from developed provinces to backward provinces. This is the reason why the western part of China is so modern and people there have decent living standard. Can you imagine tax transfer in US?

 

[etylo]

Apparently the Japanese were not anywhere near as efficient at elimination between the years 1937-1945 as the Nazis.

Japanese barbarity in China was comparable to the Nazi Germans in WW II. Japanese kilked 30 million Chinese more or less equal to the number of people killed by Nazi Germans in Europe.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Can you imagine tax transfer in US?

LOL! Where have you been for the last 100 years!
We've been doing this for a long time.

It's called Federal taxes for the rest of the country and State taxes for the rest of the state.

This is what people are crying about with Federal taxes:

States where taxpayers pay more in federal taxes than they get back

Ten states pay more in federal income taxes than they receive from the government through social security, contracts and other economic activity, according to a new report.

www.dailymail.co.uk

The states in orange are carrying the green and blue states.

 

[Meengla]

he May Fourth Movement completely changed China ideologically. The modern intellectual elite has become the thought leader of China. But this is contrary to the Confucian Mandate of Heaven. This eventually led to the Cultural Revolution in 1967.The May 4th Movement pointed out the direction (two directions) for China, and reached a consensus on the ideological and cultural transformation of China.

Wow!
The 'May Fourth Movement'. Never heard of that. And not a surprise, until watching the documentary as in the OP, I was barely aware of Chiang Kai Shek, Mao, Sun Yan Seng, Chu en Lai etc. [Okay, Chu en Lai was popular in my childhood in Pakistan of the 1970s because Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had formed a strong bond with him/China).

What the 'May Fourth Movement', from a first look at the Wiki page, shows, the Eurasia is the most important continent in the world! I mean, while the Versailles Treaty is talked about but I would have never thought it had impact so drastic as far as China!!

But then, we Pakistanis (and Indians) are integral part of the Eurasian continent and so the happening in Europe should'nt surprise us as it has impacted us. 1947 Partition would not have happened in 1947. Neither would the China of 1949 in 1949. In the same vein, the on-going Russia-Ukraine war is once again going to have far reaching consequences for human history--the human history which has been centered around Eurasia, in which I also include northern Africa.

We sure are living in very, very interesting times!!

 

[kankan326]

LOL! Where have you been for the last 100 years!
We've been doing this for a long time.

It's called Federal taxes for the rest of the country and State taxes for the rest of the state.

This is what people are crying about with Federal taxes:

States where taxpayers pay more in federal taxes than they get back

Ten states pay more in federal income taxes than they receive from the government through social security, contracts and other economic activity, according to a new report.

www.dailymail.co.uk

View attachment 926650

The states in orange are carrying the green and blue states.

View attachment 926651

From what you posted, I see your federal taxes are used in defense, social security, medicare, infrastructure. These are fundamental works of central government. Which can not be called as "tax transfer". In China the transferred taxes are used to pay salary to local civil servants, offer free houses/free education, and many welfare projects.

Projects like this is bound to be profitless

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

From what you posted, I see your federal taxes are used in defense, social security, medicare, infrastructure. These are fundamental works of central government. Which can not be called as "tax transfer". In China the transferred taxes are used to pay salary to local civil servants, offer free houses/free education, and many welfare projects.

Projects like this is bound to be profitless
View attachment 926656

The US Federal Government will give out grant money for projects like this. This is where lobbyists come into play. Their job is to convince the Federal Government that a power line in the middle of nowhere is in the National interest and should be implemented before other projects. They usually have a bad reputation...but play a role in making sure little things like this get done.

 

[kankan326]

The US Federal Government will give out grant money for projects like this. This is where lobbyists come into play. Their job is to convince the Federal Government that a power line in the middle of nowhere is in the National interest and should be implemented before other projects. They usually have a bad reputation...but play a role in making sure little things like this get done.

Sadly reality doesn't support you opinion. In US, money talks and money works. Poor people are marginalized. Millions people are sleeping in streets. 1/10 of population don't have medical insurance, 1/3 population are overweight. Kids from poor families don't have access to high quality education.

China as a developing country, did much better than US in all issues. Chinese kids enjoy free, high quality public education.

Chinese students wear cheapest school uniforms so that poor families can afford them and everyone looks same no matter he/she is from rich family or poor family.

 

[beijingwalker]

Well the Communists aren't even real Communists anymore after seeing 100% government owned businesses were not moving them forward fast enough. So they tossed in some capitalism. Now they have to deal with private enterprises and income equality..the exact things Mao railed against and had their revolution for.

They can pull the plug on Jack Ma but not millions of little Jack Mas. In fact they are already seeing people hedging their bets by moving their money out of the country so the Government can't get it if they suddenly drop the hammer.

Then why China still create more wealth and millionaires every year than any other countries in the world?

Global Wealth Surges as China Overtakes U.S. to Grab Top Spot

Global wealth tripled over the last two decades, with China leading the way and overtaking the U.S. for the top spot worldwide.

www.bloomberg.com

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Do you think "a few rich people" and communist party are equal? You should say "the class of rich vs communist party"

US political structure is designed to serve rich people. Democracy, freedom of speech, free media, law system. All these can be manipulated by money.

What? You have politicians skipping the country all the time with stolen money. Graft and corruption are some of the top issues President Xi is fighting.


You don't have to be rich to hold a high office
US presidents:

Millions people are sleeping in streets.

Millions?
LOL! What are you talking about? That's ridiculous.

Poor people are marginalized.

As if hukou doesn't marginalize poor rural people???

1/3 population are overweight.

Well that's not a government issue. How about 100's of millions in China being poor? Your Urban & Rural Livelihood Guarantee program is basically welfare.

Kids from poor families don't have access to high quality education.

Chinese kids enjoy free, high quality public education.

Medical coverage is free for poor people.

Everybody gets a free education. The inner cities may get worse because a high percentage see it as daycare and don't take it seriously.

Chinese students wear cheapest school uniforms so that poor families can afford them and everyone looks same no matter he/she is from rich family or poor family.

There's no dress code in most US schools so you can wear what you want. You are not forced to wear a blue jumpsuit. I bet you can't change the color of that "cheap suit"...

 

[大汉奸柳传志]

That's because the root cause of the blowup was the Liberals in the Government wanting to increase the number of homeowners in the US by encouraging banks to give mortgages to people who previously were considered too much of a high risk...under the pretext of "undoing decades of racism and income equality in bank lending".

Well those toxic mortgages that couldn't be paid back caused the crash.

wasn't aware they are still trying to shift blames to the government or liberals after all these years, as far as I can remember there were nothing liberal about the Bush administration when it comes to economic policies, fist thing it did was cutting taxes for the rich.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

wasn't aware they are still trying to shift blames to the government or liberals after all these years, as far as I can remember there were nothing liberal about the Bush administration when it comes to economic policies, fist thing it did was cutting taxes for the rich.

So you think the rich were the ones defaulting on those mortgages...

The combination of low interest rates, easier access to large mortgages, and a housing price spike led to people getting larger mortgages than they could afford...especially interest-only mortgages.

When interest rates started going up and prices going down many people found themselves underwater and defaulted.


Even today the numbers are crazy...$726,200 is the limit before they start adding percentages points. That's insane.