Anti-Capitalist Chronicles: Whither China?

[S3 E21] Whither China?
In this episode of ACC, Prof. Harvey examines what is happening in China today, the many changes taking place within (the formation of a billionaire class, uneven geographical development between metropolitan cities and rural areas, a cultural revolution), and highlights its impact on and relationship to the global economy.
David Harvey's Anti-Capitalist Chronicles is a‪@democracyatwrk‬ production. To our supportive and generous Patreon community: thank you for supporting this podcast. Your contributions help us compensate the staff and workers it takes to put each episode together. Thank you for being part of the ACC team! If you would like to support this project and see more of Prof. Harvey, visit us at www.patreon.com/davidharveyacc.
David Harvey's new book "Anti-Capitalist Chronicles" available at plutopress.com
__________________________________________________________________________
Learn more about d@w's NEW BOOK by award-winning print and broadcast journalist Robert "Bob" Hennelly.
Stuck Nation: Can the United States Change Course on Our History of Choosing Profits Over People? available at www.democracyatwork.info/books
“Hennelly brilliantly analyzes our capitalist crises and how individuals cope with them, tragically but often heroically. He helps us draw inspiration and realistic hope from how courageous Americans are facing and fixing a stuck nation.”
- Richard D. Wolff
Check out d@w's other books: "The Sickness is the System," "Understanding Socialism," and "Understanding Marxism"
www.lulu.com/sp...
__________________________________________________________________________
Follow us ONLINE:
Website: www.democracyatwork.info
Patreon: www.patreon.com/davidharveyacc
Facebook: democracyatwrk
Twitter: democracyatwrk
davidharvey
Instagram: democracyatwrk
Shop our union coop-made merch: www.democracy-at-work-shop.myshopify.com
Visit our books page: www.democracyatwork.info/books

[@ColorMatching]

David, please, for the love of God, buy a quality microphone.

[@zoomzoom3950]

yes, buy more Capitalist products and services!

[@nochepatada]

This can be watched at 1.25x speed and it still works

[@ColorMatching]

@@zoomzoom3950 don't be daft

[@zoomzoom3950]

@@ColorMatching you too! you're a consumer of capitalist products and services. As a capitalist, I thank you for your financial support. Keep pushing for climate change legislation, I'm making money from it. Keep pushing for higher minimum wages, I'm making money from it. I ❤️ Capitalism.

[@borisnegrarosa9113]

@@zoomzoom3950 Was first Soviet satellite a capitalist product too?

[@dannyboy8850]

David thanks for the quick overview of the evolution of Chinese economy. In my view it is moving towards the right direction and it is going through a continuous refinement which will end in a much better version of the western economy today. 👍👍👍

[@gerarddalbon]

Althusser: "There is no such thing as a socialist mode of production; socialism is a contest between co-existing elements of the capitalist and communist modes of production."

[@user-xk6xb4br9r]

He killed his wife

[@user-xk6xb4br9r]

@@degamispoudegamis sorry that was insensitive

[@EclecticSceptic]

@@user-xk6xb4br9r To quote Paul Cockshott 'even homicidal maniacs can say something interesting sometimes'.

[@jgwizo]

China scientists have found a way to convert CO2 to starch like how CO2 is changed to stsrch in plants. Congratulations to human achievement

[@williamfitzpatrick8073]

@niles stone LOL amazing comment

[@roblanchi5159]

A special thank you to David Harvey and your great analysis.

[@jared5015]

I wouldn't use the word "draconian" to describe attempts at egalitarian wealth distribution lol

[@jared5015]

Nor would I use the word egalitarian to describe China's low productive levels before reform. Having a dialectical perspective means acknowledging those conditions as necessarily the premise of submission to capital for the sake of technology and a chance to compete on the world market.

[@jared5015]

It's like looking at only one side of an equation. Is the whole of the working class in an "egalitarian" state if looked at alone in their uniform insecurity and poverty?

[@sethmidkiff5159]

Great episode! I agree that mic quality is a bit of a distraction, but the content is top quality

[@Jay...777]

China has state industries and more importantly state banks. It would be good to see the banks become banks for the people.

[@dontaskmewhy100]

邓小平在几十年前说过一句广为人知的话，“让一部分人先富起来，”但有些人只记得这前半句，只引用到逗号就结束了。这句话的后半句是，“逐步达到共同富裕。” Deng Xiaoping said a well-known saying a few decades ago, "Let some people get rich first," but some people only remember the first half of the sentence, and it ends with a comma. The second half of this sentence is, "Gradually achieve common prosperity."

[@dontaskmewhy100]

@niles stone david harvey老师很不错了，能看长远，正如Arrighi说，不能只看现在。 Salute to Giovanno Arrighi and A G Frank.

[@ibukunogunfeitimi5645]

Most importantly, dealing with inequality globally is a major challenge, and introducing reforms, must be managed effectively for transformation to be a credible approach (IP). Opening up competition is a credible solution likely to increase productivity effectively? D@W highlighted Socialism and Capitalism failures, and recommend to watch the video. We (Yorubà Nation) set out to win more hearts and minds - Human Social-Capital Innovation embedded in absolute quality of management of things - productivity gap closed effectively.

[@tomvobbe9538]

I'm quite skeptical of the Chinese system, but it would be incredibly arragont to dismiss it outright without a much deeper understanding of it.

[@fvalemus5377]

This is a good indicator of govt that listens to its people, the concerns and address it. Changes are painful, and not everyone will like it, but it is needed. Unlike in the United States of Amnesia.

[@joannezhou5354]

Thanks for the deep insight analysis. You see the big picture. Everything you said makes sense to me.

[@prole1917]

The Chinese system represents the most advanced and practical application of Marxism that currently exists

[@C5518-p5s]

It would have been cool to see the USSR survive, the rifts in the Sino-Soviet split heal, and leaders and thinkers in both states go head to head in a friendly competition... what configurations and innovations in governance we could have seen. Alas! Let's hope China nails it this century!

[@kwakkers68]

@@C5518-p5s Competition? Cooperation is key. Ironically, what we're seeing now!

[@kwakkers68]

@NIC Lee I agree, my point was made in reference to the 'friendly competition' point above (between China, and Russia).

[@thefunbuns1]

Finally catching onto SWCC and the brilliance of their long term plans in developing their country and subverting capitalism, eh?

[@SkepticallySecular]

Imagine believing 4d chess bullshit

[@thefunbuns1]

@@SkepticallySecular imagine not believing the CPC's long term plans when they continuously meet goal after successive goal on their roadmap

[@SkepticallySecular]

@@thefunbuns1 Successive goals like giving the fascist duterte free guns and disrespecting the Philippines. Successful plans like being Israel's 2nd largest trading partner

[@patrickmazza7055]

I think the growth slowdown combined with the popular powderkeg you call out is driving this change. Pressure from the US through trade wars plus surreptitiously messing around internally, notably in Hong Kong, is adding to the pressure.

[@darthjarjarbinkstherealsit6832]

*Waves hand* You will feed the algorithm

[@sethmidkiff5159]

I see Darth jar jar in the comments all the time now. Didn't know sith lords like marxist podcasts and video essays too

[@anandanganesan8240]

Great analysis. However, as Prof. Harvey told it is n experiment by CPC. No one had ever travelled in the path. Yet until a better way is found, we can hope that the measures of CPC yield results in achieving an egalitarian society

[@spadeysay6846]

Like so many other matters, China is conducting experiments and tests of this latest idea for common prosperity. Given adequate time to test them out, what worked will be adopted and what did not worked with be jettisoned.

[@liamodonoghue7225]

Me listening at 8am: "Wow, really gotta check out this book 'Aerosmith in Beijing', sounds awesome!"

[@elizabethtaylor9085]

elizabeth taylor usa. this is SO GOOD AND SO HELPFUL THANK YOU! also i agree with pevious get a really good microphone.

[@robertcox14]

You know very well, David that the very worst predictions are on economics - Fed tapering in November??? Ha ha ha Duh!

[@m.rebman7221]

A final remark about posting comments. By all means, do as you wish within the boundary of acceptable licence. But I think many of you here are being, shall we say, “sucked in” by trolls who need us more than we need them. After all, we affirm their existence through discourse with them. Best, rather, to take the advice of the transcendental meditator: “If you resist, they shall persist.” Since there is no need to resist ranting, it follows there will be need for it to persist. 😎

[@prisonerofthesun3531]

Amazing

[@nicolasbollinilima]

if you say your podcast is a look at "capitalism trought marxist lens" i think you could change the title for something like "Overcoming-capitalism chronicles" kkkk is my humble sugestion since, for what is undertand and was tought, the goal of communism for marx is to surpass capitalist social formations and resolve their intrincic contradiction. And for that we need to create new social formations by constructing a new political-economy trought intitucional and political arrangments. The key of china development is their political-economic sistem, by having a well organized communist party china is experimenting, implementing and ofen reforming their institucional and economic arrangments, allowing for the development of the productive forces at te same time that production relation are improved (salary in china cosistantly grows above the productivitt of work growth). By having REASON in power the comunist party of china is conducting the process of overcoming capitalim and in the process a new social-economic formation is being created.

[@Jeevanm71]

Let’s see if Xi nationalizes evergrande. That will show dedication to “common prosperity”

[@BraveHelios]

Can someone please speak about what went wrong in Venezuela? I just read that 3/4 of all Venezuelans live in extreme poverty. Weren't they heading to some form of socialist society? What can we learn from what they did wrong? How does it compare to the Scandinavian or Nordic model of democratic socialism?

[@burden9809]

I have been waiting,hoping, looking for someone to help me believe that I am not crazy for thinking these things. So good to hear David’s presentation. Thank you!

[@Spiritfba]

I wish our government officials would realize the powder keg we’re sitting on (United States).

[@tomvobbe9538]

The videogame ban was a good thing. Many children become addicted to videogames and TV at an early age, it's not healthy.

[@KomradeKlonopin]

Agreed. I wasted literally thousands of hours on video games as an unhealthy coping mechanism. Also, this is getting very twisted by western media. First it's only online gaming, and second, you can get around it with a VPN so it's really up to parents to enforce!!

[@jhproductions2307]

I wonder if a Universal Basic Income would be the final answer to income inequality

[@misanthropyunhinged]

no

[@advandepol7537]

Prof. Wolff has addressed this in one of his videos. I believe the crux was this, that a universal basic income does not much to change the capitalist system, but is rather a sop.

[@spadeysay6846]

It never will. Once a basic income of RMB 40.00 per month is enough to get by for an individual. Now even 10X that amount would be inadequate. Inflation is the biggest obstacle to that idea.

[@jhproductions2307]

@@advandepol7537 Perhaps in addition to a Universal Basic Income is other programs that can coordinate with it.

[@jhproductions2307]

@@spadeysay6846 It doesn't necessarily have to inflate. As long as the country continues to produce and grow inflation doesn't really come into the picture.

[@plastictouch6796]

Wow, now I actually feel that I understand China.

[@1875blahblahblah]

Do you like Maurice Meisner?

[@TheAmericanAmerican]

9 months later and it looks like Xinnie the Pooh is going to side with Putler... sooo shocking

[@oriondrums2]

how is this any different from the new deal - broad measures that transformed capitalist society with pressure from below, but fundamentally reforms grounded in the long term preservation of the capitalist system? this isn’t a chinese turn to socialism, this is rational thinking on behalf of the CCP trying to manage the powder keg of class struggle. they don’t want the working class to win, so to stave off the desire for system change, they make substantive concessions. that does not put them on the side of the working class, on the contrary, it demonstrates their alliance with the capitalist class, albeit with the unique dialectical thinking of a historically marxist party

[@mokondoenak3706]

I think you should clean your Glasses. Clean your brain as well from all those dirty imperial capitalistic brainwashing.

[@richardfinlayson1524]

I'm an Aussie and our PM , Scotty ,from marketing, really wants the Chinese to buy our coal, a lot of us are dead against this, but he doesn't listen to us, either does Queensland. The Chinese are also mad at us for getting subs from the US, now there like,stop it or well nuke you, so , yeah, Scotty from marketing has got t he Chinese pretty pissed off, they aren't talking to us......pleas explain.

[@richardfinlayson1524]

Oh yeah...the French are mad at us about the subs too, well we were gonna get the subs from them but now we have done the dirty on them, and run off with the US and the UK behind their backs. Most of the Pacific is annoyed with us too, as they are going underwater and want us to stop selling the coal to China ,who aren't buying it ,and are threatening to nuke us,

[@crowrequiem3934]

Australia is torn between security reliance on the US and economic dependence on CN, and it can't warm up to one without offending the other. any country would put greater emphasis on security, so Australia natrually chose to side with the US, especially when the US foreign policy is basically "you are either with us or against us". the problem is that Australia gov. decided to do it far too overtly, well if you charge ahead first in line you bear the blunt of the retaliation. now the US gets some of Australia's orders and Australia gets most of the blame.

[@MrRealAmericanvalues]

Professor David "Dog shit Microphone" Harvey.

[@meegz149]

They should be doing something about their construction industry. Not just Evergrande. Look up videos of tofu dreg projects. Rapid expansion and low profit margins have lead to a lot of horribly built buildings.

[@yperboreus]

What do you think about China’s treatment of Uyghurs?

[@markchiu1716]

Don’t believe those fake news. Uyghur Chinese enjoy their lives.

[@MarcoPolo-hn8or]

All western propaganda. I was there, you should go visit🍻

[@jeffou4166]

@Customer Relations do you really believe that propaganda? That's a big fat lie

[@slorter10]

Stop reading collective west propaganda that would help!

[@wnklee6878]

@@markchiu1716 Here is the Chinese report kzbin.info/www/bejne/q2XGinhsepdqlck

[@joziepozie5178]

Xi jinping pushes the socialist button the musical

[@dontaskmewhy100]

Billionnaire in China dont have much political power. CCP holds the ultimate and undisputed power. Actually the CCP has spent huge resources on dealing with the geographic disparity in the last decade or so to very positive effect. Hopefully you will come to China again soon. The majority of Chinese has high confidence on the CCP and the government.

[@i8dacookies890]

You really need to up that audio quality.

[@i8dacookies890]

@niles stone You had me in the first half, not gonna lie.

[@wenkeadam362]

Yes! Please get a better microphone. I love your videos but suffer with the sound...

[@juliahenriques210]

I don't know if you'll read this, professor, but if you do, consider this: in the long durée the main drive for China is self-determination. The last 200 years have seen China toppled from its natural position as a superpower, but this has happened before. This new Chinese reascension is fully pragmatic. Statism has been their basis, just as socialism and capitalism have been their tools. This is a radical statement: in China both socialism and capitalism are State policies, and are altered as the need arises. That's what we're seeing now, the party trying to make adjustments and remain in control in the face of the natural shift of power to capitalist elites. When the party opened the economy and embraced capitalism as a tool, it was confident in its own ability to deal with all the inevitable externalities, and now begins the first real test of that assumption.

[@PazLeBon]

Id love China to relly get on top of equality and set an example to the west

[@100Mmore]

Economic development is more important, and much more consequential.

[@adamiskandar5107]

@@100Mmore Up to a point, yes. China has reached that point and is choosing a path different from the West because following the same path and expecting different results is insanity.

[@100Mmore]

@@adamiskandar5107 No they have not, they have the same GDP per capita as Mexico. China is not a developed country just yet, but very soon.

[@EnriqueVivancoH]

@@100Mmore go to learn about PPP

[@alloomis1635]

give more presence to the long view: cpprc is here to stay, but economic management of the nation will be pragmatic, and if that involves a period of 'natural' development then it will happen. but it is not capitalism because no principle or lasting direction is assumed. it's simply, let's see what works for now, with one eye on national activity, one on international reaction. it may be that 'neoliberalism' was advertised merely to induce foreign investment, which resulted in a genuine 'great leap forward,' to challenging usa in economic power. that stage has passed, simply because usa realized that it was letting private investment in china cut the usa throat. marx had something to say, along these lines, and you can bet the very smart gents in the central committee were perfectly capable of executing this kind of economic kung fu. the main mistake of western academia is to lose sight of the essential hollowness of 'capitalism' as a driving mechanism of national economy. it is just a polite word for greed, and generates no plans or policies of lasting consequence. prc is being directed on a level far above any western nation. this will continue until the corruption of power overwhelms the rational management of the nation. cpprc is the new mandarinate, come to power through victory in civil war, as is the habit of history in china. at present they look like the premier society of mankind, and likely to stay there for a long time.

[@m.rebman7221]

Good assessment of the current situation in China. Your presentation points out what many of us here have surmised; to wit, that China is not a capitalist state, but one which has unlocked entrepreneurship and capital accumulation to serve the as yet unmet goal of a richer, more materially developed socialist state. This goal can only be accomplished by a an authoritarian regime that understands where it is going and maintains at least the necessary minimum probity to do so.

[@lukuanvx]

Other than the common wealth, I think Xi would like to see a market capitalism that is more competitive in leading technologies that allow the Chinese to climb the value chain without the fear of being choked by the USA. In another word, he would like to see China’s small business entrepreneurs to have a chance to grow in order to pursue the international markets (i.e., earning foreigners’ money) rather than the internal markets (earning Chinese’s money). Is that so difficult to understand? On the after-school enrichment program, I personally benefitted when I was in high school through taking the chemistry course. I believe that a good teacher will help the student to learn the subject in a systematic way. I think Xi should invite the best teacher in each category (chemistry, physics, etc.) to make the lecture series and make them available to every student. The teachers in the class room can spend more time on problem solving and laboratory sessions. I think that it will help the non-genius type of students to move up one notch.

[@elliottbetancourt6914]

First.

[@darthjarjarbinkstherealsit6832]

Yes comrade

[@robertcox14]

Considering all the iterations of "misinformation" what and when is there ANYTHING to "believe"???????

[@adamiskandar5107]

Maybe just looking at the results would help? You should even consider looking into a specific area like 'social mobility' and investigate thoroughly to confirm if the 'results' bear out.

[@liegesaboya8265]

China could give an extraordinary example on how to deal with climate change , by stopping buying soy , maize , sugar , meat , timber and all sort of commodities from Brasil . This measure would as well put an immediate end to NATO sponsored Bolsonaro regime .

[@burden9809]

RANKED CHOICE VOTING 🗳 NOW!

[@海狸-m8v]

Most of these new changes David mentioned focus on young labors and children. Also, there're new laws to allow 3 children per family passed around the same time. These new laws all came right after China conduct its 7th population census, and the census data release has been delayed for a month, rising suspicious that official is trying to alter it because it looks bad. China's population rate has been decline rapidly since 2017. There are rumors stated that China's population growth has plunged so hard (probably reaching 0) in 2021, that government officials realized they should give labors some room to breath, so they can have time and energy to reproduce, or China will starting to facing labor shortage problem soon. Unlike other industrial countries like Japan or US, China still has a huge labor intensive industry, and has no reliable source of foreign labor, labor shortage would actually cripple the economy, capital expansion will stop at that point. These changes Chinese government bring focus more on delaying a crisis than "focus on the aspect of living". Also, most of them are ineffective at this point in term of rising the population, because rising a child is a huge sacrifice in personal time and wealth, minor changes just wouldn't cut it.

[@sucrose11]

Everyone should read the book From Victory to Defeat China's Socialist Road and Capitalist Reversal

[@zoomzoom3950]

Idiocracy At Work. I ❤️ Capitalism.

[@m.rebman7221]

Truly, love is blind, n’est-ce pas? 😀

[@zoomzoom3950]

@@m.rebman7221 says the follower of marxist failure

[@m.rebman7221]

@@zoomzoom3950 Not necessarily. I could just be an agent provocateur. But your response is exactly what I was seeking to show the futility of responding, even when you left yourself open to that last zinger. Also, in my parting, nay, Parthian, shot, you should understand, if you are capable of critical thinking at all, and I hope you are, that many people just want to see what a Marxist has to say. Listening to something need not make you that something. I might, myself, be classified as what the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa called an “anarchist banker” - a realist who reads the times and does not fall victim to ideology as, for example, you may have done. My comments are simply self-indulgence on my part, but I reserve the right to diversion along with the rest of you though trolling seems a waste of time, frankly. 🥸