International

Democracy in China (2022)

My latest TikTok video on China’s economy got an outpouring of critical comments about “worker ownership” in China. People are very concerned that state owned enterprises are not a form of socialism but rather something called “state capitalism.”

But I think we can all agree that if the state is actually representative of the workers, then state ownership is worker ownership.

Here is a video describing the recent history of China’s emerging “consultative democracy,” showing ways the central leadership is embracing the power of democracy.

Please keep an open mind as I tell you now that China has the best “Democracy Perception Index” of all countries surveyed. This index is found by polling citizens of how democratic they feel their society is and subtracting that from how important they feel democracy is to their future.

Their 2022 report can be downloaded here.

Context on Iran

For some context on Iran, the US (with Britain on behalf of what would later become part of British Petroleum) violently overthrew and imprisoned a democratically elected PM in Iran in 1953, reverting the country to a brutal anti-communist monarchy.

The reason for the coup was because BP was unfairly extracting Iranian oil, leaving the Prime Minister no choice but to nationalize (☭) their oil. That would be too economically liberating and socialist, so Britain and the US had to intervene.

Supporters of the monarchy staging a CIA-backed coup in Iran, 1953

The brutal rule of the Shah eventually led to The Iranian Revolution where leftists and right-wing Islamic nationalists worked to overthrow the Shah. As we know, the Islamic nationalists took power.

Now, under crippling US sanctions, Iran is going to be part of a major trade route in China’s Belt & Road initiative.

Tehran, the capital of Iran as a major hub in China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Iran has also applied to join BRICS, a trade alliance specifically for developing countries. It started with Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as a response to the 2008 financial crisis. These countries want to have their economies be less reliant on the US economy. These moves are a threat to US economic hegemony.

Leaders from the BRICS trade alliance joining hands.

With all of the exaggerations and fake news swirling around the protests in Iran, our neoliberal media want us to hate the regime so much that we don’t care what neoliberal might take power after. That, or they want us to welcome indefinite instability, which would be a wrench in China’s plans to unify the developing world with mutually beneficial trade agreements. 

References:

Iranian Coup of 1953

Iranian Revolution

Iran as a part of the Belt and Road Initiative

Iran applies to join BRICS

F. William Engdahl on “The Lost Hegemon” (2016)

I recently came across F. William Engdahl while watching a CGTN (Chinese state news) program he was a guest on. His analysis was refreshingly factual, so I went to his website that has really great pieces he’s written despite its old-school, not compatible with mobile design layout.

Here’s a now 6-year-old interview promoting his book “The Lost Hegemon.” I have yet to read any of his books, but in this interview alone, I felt parts of the un-compelling Western narrative being peeled off from my lens. Simply moralizing the enemies of the US as bad, hateful, and terroristic because of blindly destructive motives never satisfied me. In this interview, we can start to investigate the origins of conflicts of power and see them as ongoing, not sporadic outburst events floating in history.

I am only beginning to form my own historical analysis of the middle east, understanding how powers like Nazi Germany, The US, and Saudi Arabia propping up the far-right anti-communist groups. And Engdahl has been helping me to navigate the region’s confusing, conflicting history.

Last, I want to point out the spot-on analysis of the conflict in Ukraine here. Coming from 2016, to criticize Obama for having no plan for Russia other than to demonize its president is prescient to say the least. When Henry f—-ing Kissinger says you’re being reckless, you know it’s bad.

China’s Great Green Wall 🇨🇳

China is leading the world in green technology and afforestation efforts. Here is a very informative video about their monumental investment in environmentalism and how it’s been saving lives and helping their people!

Do you think the Capitalist US is capable of investment like this? We watch horrible wildfires and deforestation every year but don’t seem to have a longterm plan for combatting any of it.

As we can see, China is leading the world in reforestation, with some good efforts being made in certain European countries. However, it is important to note that much of the deforestation in big exporters like Brazil and other South American countries is done for the profits of Western powers. In a way, we are exporting our deforestation.

I will leave you with a quote from president Xi Jinping. It’s important to understand our bias against China and that we expect politicians to be power-hungry liars because ours are, but that doesn’t always have to be the case, and we should recognize China’s noble efforts when they are backing it up with real humanitarian action.

We must realize that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets and act on this understanding, implement our fundamental national policy of conserving resources and protecting the environment, and cherish the environment as we cherish our own lives.

  • Xi Jinping

Guatemala – An American Genocide (1999)

While the stories told in this documentary are especially harrowing and grim, I was personally very inspired by the diligent work and international cooperation of the forensic anthropologists. Their scientific pursuit of truth is inspiring revolutionary work.

This documentary also illustrated the evilness of the CIA—the amount of collateral murder they are willing to accept in order to punish revolutionary societies is totally incriminating.