Is China Really Socialist?

If you liked this video, there's a near 100% chance you'll really like the new episode of my Nebula Original series, "The Myth That China Lifted 800 Million People Out of Poverty". You can watch it with the Nebula + CuriosityStream bundle for just $15/year curiositystream.com/polymatter

I feel that it would help if this video clarified what it meant by "Capitalism", "Socialism" and "Communism", since people have conflicting ideas of what those mean.

I would really enjoy a similar video on Vietnam, which while not a democratic state, does seem to follow socialism more closely than one would expect. The use of land leases (a back door LVT) and the high prevalence of CO-OPs in the Market place is particularly interesting.

Some facts: 1. Working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week has been common in many Chinese private companies and enterprises, despite there are laws restricting 8 hours of working per day. 2. Ma Yun(Jack Ma), has been fined over 18 billion CNY (1dollar≈6CNY) for monopolizing the market in 2021. This guy, together with Ma Huateng (head of tencent), are the two most infamous entrepreneurs in China. (If you are interested in this part you can ask some video gamers around you, they could tell you what the f#%k have Tencent done to the game industry) 3. Some TV show companies are accused of SELLING Chinese cultural heritages and patents to other countries just for more profit. 4. House prices are becoming unreasonably high in most cities in China, thanks to the real estate agencies. Some of you may have thought that many Chinese cannot buy houses because of our massive population. No. We've got plenty of houses. They are just too expensive for us. (A joke in China: If you wanna buy a house in Shanghai, you have to work from the beginning of humanity to present) Many people hate my country because it is a Socialist state, but the true fact is that a lot of young people believe socialism is the only way to rescue them, because it is this 'invisible' capitalism which has caused most of the problems.

I think this video is relatively objective so thx for that, however I have lived in China for more than 10 years and there are a few things that I know are 100% wrong. As an example, (and I've seen so many misunderstandings of this), to clarify you CAN move from anywhere to anywhere in China, including from nowhere in Gansu to metro Shanghai, and you WILL have access to its public schools, jobs, resources etc. As a matter of fact, I went to a public middle/high school in Beijing and almost half of my class did not have a Beijing Hukou. The only difference is that you need to try harder and go through a bit more complicated procedure. It is like an ethnic majority competing for a job with a First Nation candidate, if all else equal, the job will be given to the latter. Another common mistake, is thinking that high speed rails connecting nowhere to nowhere are useless. You need to keep in mind that even the most remote towns in the country might host millions of people. Those cities you've never heard of are not NOWHERE. Additionally, it helps bridge the gap between remote (and often minority-populated) towns with the coast, and help these places develop economically. I realize that a lot of time people like criticizing stuff, but to be honest, likely nobody that watched this video has had any experience leading a 1.5-billion-people country, or even a 400-million-people country like America. There is no political or economical system that is "perfect", as long as it suits the mainstream culture, it's fine.

There is a saying in China, 摸着石头过河, that translates to “cross the river by feeling the stones”. It is generally attributed to Deng Xiaoping, who used it as a metaphor to describe China’s approach towards the reform and opening (改革开放）which kicked off at the end of the 1970s.

Polymatter: China Wendover Productions: Airplanes

I'll never forget seeing the Gucci store in downtown Beijing, with 3 tv screens directly overhead displaying the hammer and sickle with the red Chinese flag in the background. Hilarious.

i am Chinese,to be honest,i can't feel anything socialist in my daily life.

11:58 That road through Taklamakan Desert isn't "useless". It connects to gas and oil fields in the middle of the desert and shortens distance from Hotan to Aksu and Urumqi, and vice versa. It also brings a lot of tourism.

I watched the video on Nebula and I was wondering why would it be de-monetized. Then I found the "Advertiser-friendly content guidelines" for YouTube. Rules for "Shocking content", "Hateful & derogatory content", "Controversial issues", and "Sensitive events". None by itself would exactly flag the video, but a takedown would probably stand by mentioning those rules. It is sad that de-monetization acts as a pseudo-sensorship for YouTube. I guess it is intrinsic of ad-based platforms, not YouTubes fault necessarily. But sad nonetheless.

Moving within China doesn't result in losing access to public utilities. After like five minutes of googling, it's just a bunch of permit application-related processes, while the video made it seem like moving between towns is illegal. Not showing sources in the video for such strong claims is pretty bad for credibility, and going through the whole list of sources without any timestamps or pointers is just awful and gives the illusion of transparency

I'm a Chinese, but THX for providing a foreigner's view. Some mistakes, especially the Hukou, looks ineviable for non-locals, but on the whole, this is good.

5:20 The archival footage early in the video ostensibly showing the death/funeral of Mao is actually not Mao, but Zhu De, Vice President, former General in the Red Army/PLA and part of the central ruling elite. Zhu De also died in 1976, so I suppose it's an easy mistake to make. Edit: Zhou Enlai also died in 1976. It was a real bad year for top CCP leaders.

I think you are conflating two ideologies within China and the CCP for one. Its not socialism that is making a revival nowadays, its nationalism. For Xi its the "rejuvination of the country" that he wants, or as his predecessor put it they don't want socialism but rather a "harmonious society". They want to cement the class rule with ever increasing power, not abolish classes altogether. Thats why they are still incarcerating leftist students who read Marx too literally. Thats why they still break down any attempt of non-state organized unions. Thats why they still keep a tight grip over the party entrances, keeping out leftists while letting in red princlings everywhere.

Alright bro, you got me. Gonna sign up for nebula. Your China videos lately are fascinating

This video is disappointing because it only talks about the politics of the leadership and doesn't analyze the actual features of China's existing economic system. For example, it should have evaluated the market capitalization of state-owned enterprises, the size and scope of state capital and equity, the extent to which major firms are coordinated by industrial policies and planning, and the continued role (albeit in more indicative rather than directive) of strategic five-year plans in guiding overall economic development. The video could and should have talked about how, despite being mainly profit-driven entities, many large (majority state-owned) firms often pursue loss-making projects that end up enhancing the potential for growth in the long-term (building infrastructure in unprofitable poor areas, for example). Other areas relevant to the "socialism" and "capitalism" divide is land ownership in China, the role of non-state cooperatives (especially in agriculture), the role (or lack therof) of employee management in firms, and workers' rights including work hours and a general trend toward improved work-life balance and living standards. I think the conclusion would be that, yes, China's economy is more socialist in the sense of "market socialism" (they actually call their system a socialist market economy) than many Westerners have been led to believe. But it is still a developing economy moving towards socialism, moving through a capitalist phase of development.

It sounds dumb but, would them having more Kfc’s, McDonald’s, and etc make sense. Since their population compared to America is tripled if not more.

Thank you for the fantastic video elaborating on this topic. I have had this hunch that China went through a whole decade of "Americanization" but decided to take a U-turn up to date. But I never had thought it through by figuring out how the party worked it through and made the turning compatible within itself. Very inspiring views and deep understanding of modern Chinese history!

I enjoyed this video and proved its true in facts. I grew up in China and spent 30 years there. I have witnessed or experienced everything you said (except for the death of Mao) in this video. Nowadays its so hard to find a video talking about China without a prejudiced view.