Did Capitalism Save Communist China?
How did one of the world’s poorest countries—China—become, in thirty years, one of the world’s richest? The answer is surprisingly simple and surprisingly powerful. China scholar Helen Raleigh breaks it down.
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Script:
How did one of the world’s poorest countries—China—become, in thirty years, one of the world’s richest? There’s a one-word answer. Capitalism.
Here’s how it happened.
In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (aka the CCP), defeated the Nationalist party in a brutal civil war. The leader of the CCP, Mao Zedong, promised the Chinese people that he would create a new China, a socialist paradise where the benevolent state would take care of every citizen’s needs from shelter to education to employment. No more greedy businessmen. Factories would be owned by their workers. No more evil landowners. The state would own all property on behalf of the people. No more hunger. Everyone could eat as much as they want at public cafeterias.
To transform China into this heaven-on-earth, Mao launched radical socialist reforms: industries were nationalized, private businesses were eliminated, and land was confiscated. But rather than turning China into a heaven on earth, these policies turned China into a hell-on-earth. Healthcare was cheap but there was a chronic shortage of doctors, hospitals, and modern medicine. No one was unemployed because the government gave each person a job. But if you didn’t like the job you were assigned, well, that was just too bad. Your government-assigned job was tied to your food ration. No work, no food.
Speaking of food, it wasn’t long after Mao took power that widespread food shortages began happening. My own parents had to get up at 3 o’clock in the morning to stand in long lines outside of a grocery store to get a pound of sugar or several ounces of cooking oil. Often, they got nothing.
Every year was worse than the last. Between 1958 and 1962, China experienced the worst famine in human history. An estimated 45 million Chinese starved to death, victims of their own government’s murderous stupidity. Among the lives lost were my uncle, my grandaunt and her family of five, and my dad’s maternal grandmother.
At the time of Mao’s death in 1976, more than 90% of the Chinese population lived below the poverty line, earning less than $2 a day. The only equality socialism had achieved was an equal distribution of misery.
Mao’s successor, Deng Xiaoping, recognized that this couldn’t go on much longer. The only way to save the CCP’s one-party rule was to get the economy going. But how? Deng had no idea.
Fortunately for him, a small group of farmers did. In 1978 these farmers, 18 of them in the village of Xiaogang, made a secret deal with their village leader. After fulfilling the government quotas, they would be allowed to keep any surplus for themselves and sell what they didn’t need.
Such a move was risky because it was a rejection of the CCP’s socialist policies. But the result was magical. The first year after this deal went into effect, the 18 farmers produced more grain than the entire village had produced in the previous 10 years combined!
The “Xiaogang model” began to spread to other villages. When Deng heard of it, rather than punishing the farmers, he had the good sense to recognize that these simple peasants had shown him how to revive China’s economy. Soon after, Deng announced sweeping economic reforms. He opened up China to the outside world, inviting foreign investments, and most importantly, loosening the government’s grip on the Chinese people.
The results were nothing less than astonishing. The freer the Chinese economy became, the wealthier the Chinese people became. In the space of three decades, 800 million Chinese people emerged out of poverty. Chinese cities now match and exceed the greatest cities of the West, skyscraper for skyscraper.
The CCP likes to pat itself on the back for China’s economic miracle. However, the real credit should go to free-market capitalism and 18 brave farmers who risked their lives to give it a try.
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To take 300 million out of poverty in three decades outstanding.
The history here is wrong and typical the propaganda we are fed in the West. It as Mao from 1950 to the 1970s that oversaw the main improvements in conditions in China – capitalism couldn't just be in installed instantly in 1950 given the dreadful initial conditions – and Mao led the liberation of China to throw out the foreign interferences (which is why we smear him so much) and established education, healthcare and improved farming following the early success of USSR in modernising their agriculture. China in 1980 was a completely different place to 1950, life expectancy had nearly doubled, literacy had more than tripled, and it was an easier road forward from that point, so international trade could be established and the rest is more visible to us. But the Mao period was actually the difficult and really important part in their transition to their present excellent education.
Well, I’ll accept that that China/CCP reverting to the Maoist ways is bad for China. However, Personally I think that whatever is “Bad For China” is generally “Good for the World” especially Democratic Capitalistic Nations.
In fact the reason why Chinese growth become slower is not about the control from government 😂
Capitalism is the only option for a society to survive. All other systems collapsed. God bless America 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
China protecting small business to keep compete with big business, I think they are more closer to Free Capitalism than today United States where Big Business monopolizing the economy and the US keep crushing small business with high taxes. That's not Capitalism, that's Corporatist Dictatorship
There first skyscraper was in 1980 it was a hotel
Yes
Fun Fact, China is one of two countries who lost a war against birds.
this is all happen but a different kind of calmness experimenting topless communism
what a bs video… *facepalm
This is why the Republic of China (the ROC) should have won the Chinese Civil War, if they had won, perhaps China and India today would still be allies, and China and America today would still be close friends. 🙂
【USA🇺🇸 China🇹🇼 India🇮🇳】
How does it comes that you speak with a strong Chinese accent on this video when you don’t on any other ?
as a Georgian, USSR was same thing in terms of poverty even in late 1970's time when personal computers were sold in USA>
Dennis at least get someone who can speak English.
Lmao
yes, it save the commies of China and others communist countries
yes, it save the commies of China and others communist countries
First, sorry for my bad inglish. So much ignorance! China is NOT capitalist, it's a socialist market economy, and the worst Chinese famine was in 1898-1900 with 100 millions victims, China was the richest country in the world between 1300 to 1700 but during 1800-1900 became very very poor. Mao make errors but improved chinese life very much (in fact during 30 years of Mao Chinese population double +450.000.000 millions more people) and without the industrialitations during Mao era and unifity China will not be rich today.
Socialism means: the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. You guys in the comments are talking about communism not socialism
Xi jinping is so proud about chinas economy, yet he failed to realize it was capitalism that saved his nation🤣
Anybody from Adam Something ?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO chinese people are getting spied on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so lucky that we are not :)))))))))))
Wait so thats why cuba is so poor???? Communism is so evil :((((
Socialism is when no capitalism
Great Video Dennis!!
Situation in China was so much better before the CCP! Communism is truly evil :((((( Unlike capitalism tho where everyone is happy and healthy :))))
PragerU's audience definitely would buy into this Snow White and the Seven Dwarves-ass version of the story.
Whoever make this script is confusing social freedom with economic freedom, especially at the end.
Whenever China progresses, capitalism, whenever socialism regresses 😂😂😐
Long live communism
Long live Xi Jingping
I would say, that Deng reformed the old system. But in China the goverment has more Power than the companies
Great piece of history and explanation. It reminds me of my own former socialist country (Slovakia). Only that we did not change to capitalism during the Communist Regime. It collapsed on its own.
This is not to say that capitalism is heaven on earth, we still do have poor people to take care of and should be creative in doing so. But the general picture is clear: man was made for free enterprise and in general that is how people thrive.
Interesting. I mean, she's wrong, but it's interesting none the less.
Okay, no. This is just lies and propaganda.