689
both are. have fun fighting eachother in the mud.
All states are authoritarian, in that they are instruments by which one class oppresses the others. What this doesn't say anything about alone, though, is which class is in power. In the US Empire, the capitalists are in power, and use the authority of the state to crush workers when workers rise up. In the PRC, the working class is in power, and the state keeps capitalists in check and appropriates their capital gradually.
The only way out of authoritarian control by any class is to get rid of classes entirely, which requires full collectivization of production. China is actively building towards that, the US Empire is opposing it. Until we get to a classless society, it's better for the working class to be in charge.
In other words, class struggle will continue to exist even after the proletariat takes control. All of the tensions from class struggle continue to exist, only they are resolved in favor of the working class. This is what "authoritarianism" looks like, class conflict expressed in state response.
"the working class" meaning the (one) party tho, lol.
Yes. Democracy isn't about choosing between parties, but having substantive input on direction that results in the will of the people being carried out. This is true of China, policy is typically driven from the bottom-up, a process called "whole process people's democracy." This is expressed, as an example, through Five Year Plans that are the result of mass polling and suggestions among the populace. The CPC has over 100 million members in a country of 1.4 billion.
The state isn't a class in and of itself, it can only serve as representative of a class. In the PRC, that class is the working class. The communists beat the nationalists in the Chinese Civil War, and from that point on the working class has been in control.
Fun fact: It's actually possible for two countries to both be authoritarian!
The US killed a million innocent people in Iraq just a few years ago, and is *currently * drone bombing several countries in ME and north africa, and is currently supporting the apartheid state of israel with billions of dollars in military aid.
The PRC has not been in a war since its skirmish with Vietnam in 1979.
The US has a network of > 800 military bases across the globe, and has been involved in regime change in nearly every country.
Which one is authoritarian?
I feel like this is shifting the focus to imperialism, where the US is overwhelmingly and undeniably worse.
However, domestically, if you wanna pretend that someone as a random citizen, has any chance of receiving political representation in China, well you enjoy your fantasy.
The US and China are both deeply undemocratic places. I'm saying this as someone from neither country.
Anyone who's actually been to China would know this. It is authoritarian. It's not even something viewed as bad by most people in China. It's just the way things are there.
There is pretty strong support for the government there, albeit that could be argued as product of censorship, repression and also genuine support. Many see the CCP as having done a lot of good things which they are grateful for, which in addition to the bad things, in fairness, they have done.
I'm getting kinda tired of some leftists knee jerking "China Good", just as much as I'm getting kinda tired of the "China Bad" crowd, when the truth is neither wholly good nor wholly bad.
We can be leftists and not have a hard-on for any country claiming to be socialist, you know
"They can both be authoritarian"
"WELL USA INVADED IRAQ"
Lmao
take a look at that map and you will notice they are fucking over the entire planet.
not just iraq, although usians like to ignore how much death and suffering they caused there. (all the while they sanction places like cuba)
you couped my country and made it undemocratic to this day and you can't even tell where i'm from.
load more comments
(27 replies)
load more comments
(2 replies)
Uighurs
Tibet
Supporting Russia in Ukraine
- https://dessalines.github.io/essays/socialism_faq.html#whats-going-on-with-the-uyghurs
- https://redsails.org/friendly-feudalism/
- https://historicly.substack.com/p/tibet-china-and-the-violent-reaction
- https://stalinsmoustache.org/2018/09/19/maos-liberation-of-tibet/
- http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/peace-and-prosperity/2015/february/02/obama-admits-us-role-in-ukraine-overthrow/
load more comments
(1 replies)
Look up the definition of authoritarianism. Bombing other countries is not the defining feature of an authoritarian government.
Terms like Authoritarianism and Totalitarianism were defined or entrenched by a lot of western supremacist authors, who needed to twist terminology in such a way that excluded the US (capitalism's worldwide enforcer and the cause of so much death and destruction) from any wrongdoing, while demonizing the colonial world who fought back against the US for their own sovereignty as "authoritarian".
I highly suggest reading Losurdo's - Western Marxism, for an in-depth analysis of some of these white supremacist authors, and how they demonize the anti-colonial struggle.
load more comments
(2 replies)
Which one is currently genociding Uhygurs? Which one illegally annexed Tibet and Hong Kong? Both countries are authoritarian shit-holes.
tibet was never invaded, theocrats lost their slaves and libs are somehow mad about it
load more comments
(9 replies)
load more comments
(6 replies)
load more comments
(100 replies)
Both are garbage. The US is just a bigger pile of garbage (for now).
Totally both are garbage. But from anti-colonial and anti-authoritarian perspective, US has always been garbage. Trump only removed the pretensions. I mean, Joe Biden affirmed that US will invade Holland if any Americans are arrested by the International Court there. So much for a country that purports rules based international order, if the most supreme power the world has ever seen confirmed that such rules and order don't apply to them.
load more comments
(5 replies)
liberals brain breaking
I just gotta pop in and say: thank you, comrades, for absolutely making my morning by dunking on some capitalists' useful idiots.
load more comments
(16 replies)
US is in a situation where even the Chinese government can make fun of how undemocratic it is. I think this explains a lot.
load more comments
(3 replies)
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2025
689 points (100.0% liked)
Memes
52204 readers
431 users here now
Rules:
- Be civil and nice.
- Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS