Signed by over three hundred prominent Chinese citizens, China's Charter 08
calls for an end to some of its essential features of China current
political system, including one-party rule, and their replacement with
a system based on human rights, equality, democracy and the rule of
law. From the document:
Authoritarianism is
in general decline throughout the world; in China, too, the era of
emperors and overlords is on the way out. The time is arriving
everywhere for citizens to be masters of states. For China the path
that leads out of our current predicament is to divest ourselves of the
authoritarian notion of reliance on an "enlightened overlord" or an
"honest official" and to turn instead toward a system of liberties,
democracy, and the rule of law, and toward fostering the consciousness
of modern citizens who see rights as fundamental and participation as a
duty.
Yeah, sure:
Sounds great. Why can't we do that in Canada?
I like the New York Review of Books.
I thought of posting the article because of the manifesto - I don't have to agree with it to find it interesting.
[url=The">http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/008299.html][b]The Concrete Dragon[/url] isn't going to let change happen any too soon but always has room for more victims in his commie caves/prisons-ask the Tibetans about that.
What's happening in China has nothing whatsoever to do with "communism" anymore, bolshie. Give the Cold War buzzwords a rest.
China is a right-wing capitalist state these days.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Our Demands Most Moderate are/
We Only Want The World!
-James Connolly
And even worse, the Chinese model of an autocratic police state combined with relentless splatter-capitalism, is threatening to erode even the liberties that were conceded by the capitalist class in liberal capitalist bourgeois democracies. Watch out, the Chinese model could be capitalism for the 21st century...
Are you kidding or or you serious?
Let's see. A single party allows oligarchs to run roughshod over invidivudal rights while giving the blind eye to almost universal corruption and depends on nationalism and economic growth (itself dependent on exploitation of people and resources in Africa) for social stability.
Yep - a bit beyond "right-wing capitalist state."
What do you mean, George? Substitute the word "Africa" for "globe" and you've just described the US. I mean, okay, there are those who will argue the US is two-party state and those people haveplaced all their hope in O'Bush, but we know better.
Yep!
Interesting, and not just an echo of US thinking. Thanks for the link!
So there's economic as well as individual rights in there.
Frisky capitalists and rightwing ideologues around the world are feeling only half screwed and tatoo'd wrt China since the reforms began. Neoliberal ideologues would like very much for China to stop managing the currency so vigorously and allow global money speculators to play yo-yo with China's life blood, its' money, and for China to drop restrictions on foreign ownership and control in banking and several other key sectors of the economy. Workers in China are not quite yet totally reliant on free markets. The Chinese are enjoying personal savings rates of 25% and higher and paying cash for cars, homes, and apartments. This is ridiculous - no self-respecting neoliberal ideologue would hear of such things.
Unfortunately, Fidel, the Chinese worker has also been playing the market.
And we now have to consider continuing to manufacture some items so that there are jobs for workers here.
We'll need lots of state involvement to bring it all off, eh? Maybe even an enlightened electorate as well? Shoes at the ready?