Since to my understanding, and their occasional border shootout USSR and PRC were not particularly distant, I understand you’re pitching them against EU/USA? So bourgeois nation states, one established by religious puritans by means of a continent wide genocide, have some distinct advantage over 70+ years of communism, is your point?
@harc A state being bourgeois is not the only material condition of that state. The west in the 90s saw immense growth and stability, which meant that it could afford more rights to the groups that it had previously marginalized. We’re now seeing that rolled back as said stability comes crashing down.
China, meanwhile, is quite new to stability, so we’re only now seeing rights there increased. The USSR, one could argue, never really saw stability due to constant sanctions and external threat.
Those rights were won by the working class and marginalized groups fighting for their rights, forcing the state to capitulate. They were not ‘afforded’ by any benevolence of the state.
Not benevolence at all. Workers had significant extra pressure when the ruling elite were worried about communism spreading. Now with union membership at historic lows, and government unafraid to side with capital, western workers have very little bargaining power.
@harc almost like material conditions of countries on opposite ends of the globe or literal decades apart make a difference
Since to my understanding, and their occasional border shootout USSR and PRC were not particularly distant, I understand you’re pitching them against EU/USA? So bourgeois nation states, one established by religious puritans by means of a continent wide genocide, have some distinct advantage over 70+ years of communism, is your point?
@harc A state being bourgeois is not the only material condition of that state. The west in the 90s saw immense growth and stability, which meant that it could afford more rights to the groups that it had previously marginalized. We’re now seeing that rolled back as said stability comes crashing down.
China, meanwhile, is quite new to stability, so we’re only now seeing rights there increased. The USSR, one could argue, never really saw stability due to constant sanctions and external threat.
Those rights were won by the working class and marginalized groups fighting for their rights, forcing the state to capitulate. They were not ‘afforded’ by any benevolence of the state.
Not benevolence at all. Workers had significant extra pressure when the ruling elite were worried about communism spreading. Now with union membership at historic lows, and government unafraid to side with capital, western workers have very little bargaining power.
Good read if you haven’t already come across it :) https://redsails.org/concessions/