In the daily mirror on Saturday 17Th of October an article by Tony Parsons caught my eye. The article was called "This damn war is not worth one British life" It talked about the war in Afghanistan. It said "The only reason I can see us being in Afghanistan is the reason we were part of the invasion of Iraq. To suck up to America" A bit of a simplistic deduction typical of newspapers like the mirror but one I can understand. But that's beside the point, the point I'm making comes later in the article.
At the end it says "That wretched country is not worth one British life" Why is it that the media only ever care about British lives? If we look at the facts there have been 395 British casualties in the war on terror. Whereas there have been estimates of 20000-50000 Afghan casualties and estimates of 600000-1000000 Iraqi casualties. Iraqi and Afghan civilians can't change the fact that their country is at war. I don't want to sound like a hippie but the cost of a life (that is if there is such a thing) Shouldn't be determined by a persons nationality. When will we learn that we are not the only people who matter? Thank you for your time.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
60 Years Of Chinese "Communism"
In 1949 The People's Republic Of China was established. Today it is recognised as one of the fewremaining communist states on earth. After decades of fighting between warlords, nationalists and communists (as well as brutal occupation by Japan) the communists eventually took power in 1949. The leader of the communists was a man who would become known to some as a brutal tyrant and to others one of the great leaders and political activists: Mao Zedong (1893-1976) Who in 1949 expelled nationalist forces from mainland China.
By the late 1950's Mao was impatient with the slowness of economic progress and in February 1958 he launched "the great leap forward" The aim was to modernise China. The project was a disastrous failure, production sharply declined and 20-30 million people died of starvation or malnutrition.
On the 9th of September 1976 Mao died. The "Gang of four" which consisted of Jiang Quing (Mao's wife), Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan and Wang Hongwen tried to seize power but were arrested, tried and expelled from the communist party. At this point China had already opened up relations with the outside world after years of isolation. In 1972 President Richard Nixon visited and helped open relations with China.
From the late 1970's the dominant figure in Chinese politics was Deng Xiapingwho encouraged a free market economy as well as other economic reforms. These reforms led to a demand for political liberalization, many student protests were held across the country and in 1989 for 6 weeks students protested for democracy in tianmen square. Eventually the people's liberation army (PLA) were sent in and ruthelessly crushed the protests (Sense the irony?)
Now for a country that calls itself a socialist republic it's economic policy is far from socialistic. Socialism (according to Richard Overy in the time's complete history of the world) is a belief in communal or collective ownership were everyone has the right to the benefits and opportunities of society. Proffesor Noam Chomsky says the sore element of socialism is "Workers control over production" Personally I believe socialism is the elimination of the free market. Many if not all "socialist" Countries are more state capitalist than socialist. In Cuba for instance the majority of profit goes to the government, of course the government may use this money to help the people but then again maybe not.
These days China operates under a free market economy whether this is a good thing or not it's not socialism. As for whether it's a good thing or not the figures show it looks like it has worked. For instance between 1981 and 2001 the poverty rate went from 53% to 8% through rapid industrialisation (the developement of industry on an extensive scale) And agricultural output increased 49% in 5 years. But China remains quiet on it's human rights issues, issues such as the on child policy (which prevents families from having more than one child), the treatment of tibet and the mistreatment of workers in sweatshops.
In conclusion I believe that China no longer operate under communist or socialist law and are oppresing the people they are supposed to be liberating. Thank you for you're time.
By the late 1950's Mao was impatient with the slowness of economic progress and in February 1958 he launched "the great leap forward" The aim was to modernise China. The project was a disastrous failure, production sharply declined and 20-30 million people died of starvation or malnutrition.
On the 9th of September 1976 Mao died. The "Gang of four" which consisted of Jiang Quing (Mao's wife), Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan and Wang Hongwen tried to seize power but were arrested, tried and expelled from the communist party. At this point China had already opened up relations with the outside world after years of isolation. In 1972 President Richard Nixon visited and helped open relations with China.
From the late 1970's the dominant figure in Chinese politics was Deng Xiapingwho encouraged a free market economy as well as other economic reforms. These reforms led to a demand for political liberalization, many student protests were held across the country and in 1989 for 6 weeks students protested for democracy in tianmen square. Eventually the people's liberation army (PLA) were sent in and ruthelessly crushed the protests (Sense the irony?)
Now for a country that calls itself a socialist republic it's economic policy is far from socialistic. Socialism (according to Richard Overy in the time's complete history of the world) is a belief in communal or collective ownership were everyone has the right to the benefits and opportunities of society. Proffesor Noam Chomsky says the sore element of socialism is "Workers control over production" Personally I believe socialism is the elimination of the free market. Many if not all "socialist" Countries are more state capitalist than socialist. In Cuba for instance the majority of profit goes to the government, of course the government may use this money to help the people but then again maybe not.
These days China operates under a free market economy whether this is a good thing or not it's not socialism. As for whether it's a good thing or not the figures show it looks like it has worked. For instance between 1981 and 2001 the poverty rate went from 53% to 8% through rapid industrialisation (the developement of industry on an extensive scale) And agricultural output increased 49% in 5 years. But China remains quiet on it's human rights issues, issues such as the on child policy (which prevents families from having more than one child), the treatment of tibet and the mistreatment of workers in sweatshops.
In conclusion I believe that China no longer operate under communist or socialist law and are oppresing the people they are supposed to be liberating. Thank you for you're time.
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