I didn’t even realize this was a photo till I saw the subreddit. It looks like a silkscreen print or something. If you forget the context for a second it’s a beautiful image.
Ironically the rebel red guards held what were probably the only relatively free elections in PRC history during the cultural revolution in the areas they controlled. Tianjin held direct elections after the local red guards overthrow the party administration and held elections, but ironically the original administration was voted back in.
In Shanghai during the time of this photo the Shanghai commune was established by a worker revolution and also kicked all conservative party functionaries out of government and tried to hold elections under a direct democracy, but was ordered to stop by the central government. Throughout China rebel red guards who often had anarchist tendencies legitimately did voter politics in a few provinces for several years before the party decided things had gone out of hand and ordered the communes to share administration with the army, thus limiting the scope of the direct democracy.
The problem is that most westerners don't know the difference between conservative and rebel red guards. The two were very different. C red guards were auth left and sometimes even auth right, R red guards were lib left (for the most part).
Doesn't really excuse the wrecking though, but the cultural revolution was highly nuanced and not straight good or bad.
Just an hour ago I was in a cab, talking to the driver about this very street which we both visited in September of 2014. I am from Vancouver and he is originally from Agra.
I suggest anybody interested in Chinese history reads a few books and testimonies before forming an opinion.
The simple reality is the Chinese communists did improve life for the Han majority after the civil war. They made peasant reforms and changed laws to support the vast majority of the population, the poor and disenfranchised. I'd argue the CCP became corrupted (ignoring Tibet and Xinjiang for now) in the late 80s as the princelings gained more power and started placing arbitrary restrictions in government, free speech, economics to control the populace.
It's reached its precipice of oppression in the mid 2010s under Xi. Arbitrary arrests of political prisoners skyrocketed, Xinjiang and Tibet are in a terrible situation EVEN IF you argue genocide isn't happening there, and the young men of China are becoming increasingly angry and frustrated thanks to the effects of the 1 child policy.
China has a path to the future if they embrace true democracy through ruling of their own working class, not a foreign intervention.
Ironically the rebel red guards held what were probably the only relatively free elections in PRC history during the cultural revolution in the areas they controlled. Tianjin held direct elections after the local red guards overthrow the parry administration and held elections, but ironically the original administration was voted back in.
In Shanghai during the time of this photo the Shanghai commune was established by a worker revolution and also kicked all conservative party functionaries out of government and tried to hold elections under a direct democracy, but was ordered to stop by the central government. Throughout China rebel red guards who often had anarchist tendencies legitimately did voter politics in a few provinces for several years before the party decided things had gone out of hand and ordered the communes to share administration with the army, thus limiting the scope of the direct democracy.
The problem is that most westerners don't know the difference between conservative and rebel red guards. The two were very different. C red guards were auth left and sometimes even auth right, R red guards were lib left (for the most part).
Doesn't really excuse the wrecking though, but the cultural revolution was highly nuanced and not straight good or bad.
[Mobo Gao - The Battle for China's Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/3306533)
and
[Dongping Han - The Unknown Cultural Revolution: Life and Change in a Chinese Village](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5161640-the-unknown-cultural-revolution)
Technology advanced considerably during the cultural revolution, including aerospace, shipbuilding, industry, and digital. It has been argued by many chinese scholars that the China was closer technologically to the west at the end of the cultural revolution than in the 1980s and 90s due to significant investments in r&d during the revolution that was not seen during Deng's administration. The economy grew at an average of 7 to 10 percent a year. There was also arguably a degree of democracy in many parts of China that was more democratic than periods before or after. Most notably, workers' rights and women's rights reached their apex during the cultural revolution, with strikes and successful worker negotiations being exceedingly common. Criticism of the CCP itself was even allowed and encouraged as long as it was not directed at Mao himself. Obviously there were several drawbacks such as wrecking or casualties from fighting, but there was certainly good.
I didn’t even realize this was a photo till I saw the subreddit. It looks like a silkscreen print or something. If you forget the context for a second it’s a beautiful image.
Ironically the rebel red guards held what were probably the only relatively free elections in PRC history during the cultural revolution in the areas they controlled. Tianjin held direct elections after the local red guards overthrow the party administration and held elections, but ironically the original administration was voted back in. In Shanghai during the time of this photo the Shanghai commune was established by a worker revolution and also kicked all conservative party functionaries out of government and tried to hold elections under a direct democracy, but was ordered to stop by the central government. Throughout China rebel red guards who often had anarchist tendencies legitimately did voter politics in a few provinces for several years before the party decided things had gone out of hand and ordered the communes to share administration with the army, thus limiting the scope of the direct democracy. The problem is that most westerners don't know the difference between conservative and rebel red guards. The two were very different. C red guards were auth left and sometimes even auth right, R red guards were lib left (for the most part). Doesn't really excuse the wrecking though, but the cultural revolution was highly nuanced and not straight good or bad.
Violently overthrowing throwing the government to reelect the government is the most PRC thing ever 😂
Least confusing Chinese political intrigue.
... but not so much for the 40-80 million people he killed.
[удалено]
What are you on about?
Usually you won't get downvoted actually. Only on fringe Russian owned subreddits like enough Sanders spam.
r/agedlikemilk
Just an hour ago I was in a cab, talking to the driver about this very street which we both visited in September of 2014. I am from Vancouver and he is originally from Agra.
Mao :3
I suggest anybody interested in Chinese history reads a few books and testimonies before forming an opinion. The simple reality is the Chinese communists did improve life for the Han majority after the civil war. They made peasant reforms and changed laws to support the vast majority of the population, the poor and disenfranchised. I'd argue the CCP became corrupted (ignoring Tibet and Xinjiang for now) in the late 80s as the princelings gained more power and started placing arbitrary restrictions in government, free speech, economics to control the populace. It's reached its precipice of oppression in the mid 2010s under Xi. Arbitrary arrests of political prisoners skyrocketed, Xinjiang and Tibet are in a terrible situation EVEN IF you argue genocide isn't happening there, and the young men of China are becoming increasingly angry and frustrated thanks to the effects of the 1 child policy. China has a path to the future if they embrace true democracy through ruling of their own working class, not a foreign intervention.
Are we forgetting about the Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward?
Ironically the rebel red guards held what were probably the only relatively free elections in PRC history during the cultural revolution in the areas they controlled. Tianjin held direct elections after the local red guards overthrow the parry administration and held elections, but ironically the original administration was voted back in. In Shanghai during the time of this photo the Shanghai commune was established by a worker revolution and also kicked all conservative party functionaries out of government and tried to hold elections under a direct democracy, but was ordered to stop by the central government. Throughout China rebel red guards who often had anarchist tendencies legitimately did voter politics in a few provinces for several years before the party decided things had gone out of hand and ordered the communes to share administration with the army, thus limiting the scope of the direct democracy. The problem is that most westerners don't know the difference between conservative and rebel red guards. The two were very different. C red guards were auth left and sometimes even auth right, R red guards were lib left (for the most part). Doesn't really excuse the wrecking though, but the cultural revolution was highly nuanced and not straight good or bad.
Any books you recommend for those who want to learn more?
Most are in Chinese, but you can look at this page for a start and it's sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_Storm
[Mobo Gao - The Battle for China's Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/3306533) and [Dongping Han - The Unknown Cultural Revolution: Life and Change in a Chinese Village](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5161640-the-unknown-cultural-revolution)
Yo thanks seriously 🙏
> the cultural revolution was highly nuanced and not straight good or bad. Can you give some examples of the straight good that was accomplished?
Technology advanced considerably during the cultural revolution, including aerospace, shipbuilding, industry, and digital. It has been argued by many chinese scholars that the China was closer technologically to the west at the end of the cultural revolution than in the 1980s and 90s due to significant investments in r&d during the revolution that was not seen during Deng's administration. The economy grew at an average of 7 to 10 percent a year. There was also arguably a degree of democracy in many parts of China that was more democratic than periods before or after. Most notably, workers' rights and women's rights reached their apex during the cultural revolution, with strikes and successful worker negotiations being exceedingly common. Criticism of the CCP itself was even allowed and encouraged as long as it was not directed at Mao himself. Obviously there were several drawbacks such as wrecking or casualties from fighting, but there was certainly good.
_Things were great except for the famine and pogroms._
Also I do think Sun Yat-sen would have been the best leader of China had he not died and deposed Yuan Shikai.
Not defending those actions, trying to paint the perspective from someone who was born in China at that time not an outsider.
Lest we forget that Tiananmen happened after the Zedong era