I get behind and totally support “ruthless criticism” of everything. And dialectical materialism is baked into my blood.

I’m also skeptical if China does have a bourgeoisie class. I can definitely see China currently having something analogous to the bourgeoisie class, but the relationship to the means of production and capital is in my view, too different to directly describe as being bourgeoisie. Words have specific meanings, but also the general sentiment often matters more. There is no doubt a metric-shit ton of work still to do, and even China isn’t exactly a worker’s paradise.

I have no doubt that billionaires and corrupt CPC members have lots of power, but my partial understanding was that most of China’s billionaires seemed to be “billionaires-in-name-only.” Sure, they may have net worth in the billions, but only if they are at the head of or play an important part in state-owned enterprises or if the CPC thinks it’s necessary to have the capitalist on a leash, which I think is fundamentally different than classical bourgeoisie and proletariat. I still kind of scoff at people that point out that China has billionaires, and view it as a false equivalence. How often does the CPC seem to kick their shit in, fire or imprison billionaires, expropriate their wealth, and limit their power and reach at every step of the way? The BiNO’s can afford slightly fancier cars and houses, but they seem to have almost zero real practical power. I’m not naive about the risks, though.

Though I do think that no government is ever likely 100 percent efficient or 100 percent uncorrupt, and for instance I think it’s a fucking travesty that the 696 work schedule and culture still exists, and that the CPC should do more to combat it.