Kerala India achieved developed nation level performance on HDI (human development index) indices in a few short decades with expansive land and policy reforms under a democratically elected communist party.
Communism is an extremely effective tool at shaking off feudalistic old world tendencies but, as a system, it is extremely economically handicapped in a world where the wealthiest nations are capitalist.
Which is why China has had to adopted a hybrid “state capitalism” / mercantilism to achieve its rapid economic ascent.
The PRC is socialist, public ownership is the principle aspect of the economy and the working classes control the state. Communism is a post-socialist mode of production that has not existed yet.
China is not “state capitalist” or mercantilist. Its a socialist market economy with a limited / restricted private sector, where the publicly owned portion dominates the economy, and private capital is not allowed to rise to the level of political power.
To add to that, the whole idea of state capitalism is a bit of a misnomer. It basically says that while you have state owned enterprise, the internal capitalist relations within it remain largely the same. While that’s true, there is a fundamental difference here. Capitalism is a system where people who own capital hire workers to exploit there labor with the purpose of increasing their capital. The goal of capitalist enterprise is to create wealth for the owners with any social benefits being strictly incidental. On the other hand, the purpose of state enterprise is to provide social value. Workers in state owned companies are producing things that the society needs. They are working for their own benefit and those of others around them. Therefore, the nature of work itself is fundamentally different from actual capitalism.
Kerala India achieved developed nation level performance on HDI (human development index) indices in a few short decades with expansive land and policy reforms under a democratically elected communist party.
Communism is an extremely effective tool at shaking off feudalistic old world tendencies but, as a system, it is extremely economically handicapped in a world where the wealthiest nations are capitalist.
Which is why China has had to adopted a hybrid “state capitalism” / mercantilism to achieve its rapid economic ascent.
The PRC is socialist, public ownership is the principle aspect of the economy and the working classes control the state. Communism is a post-socialist mode of production that has not existed yet.
China is not “state capitalist” or mercantilist. Its a socialist market economy with a limited / restricted private sector, where the publicly owned portion dominates the economy, and private capital is not allowed to rise to the level of political power.
To add to that, the whole idea of state capitalism is a bit of a misnomer. It basically says that while you have state owned enterprise, the internal capitalist relations within it remain largely the same. While that’s true, there is a fundamental difference here. Capitalism is a system where people who own capital hire workers to exploit there labor with the purpose of increasing their capital. The goal of capitalist enterprise is to create wealth for the owners with any social benefits being strictly incidental. On the other hand, the purpose of state enterprise is to provide social value. Workers in state owned companies are producing things that the society needs. They are working for their own benefit and those of others around them. Therefore, the nature of work itself is fundamentally different from actual capitalism.
Thanks for that. Always interested in hearing different perspectives.
No probs!