Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, was seen as the one person who embraced capitalism in China. Yet, when news came out that he was a red-card carrier of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), many flipped out. How could a man, who talked about George Washington and the principles of capitalism when talking with the media and everyone else, be a member of the communist party in China? Well the answer is, the CCP is not what it was.
Historically, the CCP was the go-to organization. Everyone was expected to join lest you wanted to be seen as a 'traitor' or a 'capitalist'. The old-school communist party was corrupt, inefficient, and really didn't really have the best ideas for improvement and modernization. Still, at the time, joining it was supposed to be the key to advance one's career, like preferred placement in jobs.
In the 80's the party started to welcome capitalists after everyone saw the failures of the Maoist policies. Even as the private sector grew in the 80's, growth staggered in the years following the Tiananmen Protests. In a twist of events in 2001, the private sector was fueled again as the leader in China recognized the importance of allowing such individuals.
Ma's story is unique in that it shows how he went literally from being a teacher to a billionaire, and that being a member of the communist party today is really nothing more than like simply being a part of a political party in the States. You don't necessarily benefit, and you aren't necessarily hurt. It looks good to be in the CCP, but in the end, with more lax business regulations, anyone can be both a communist and a capitalist in China, provided of course with some caveats.
Those caveats include things like if a business has more than 3 CCP members then they have to hold political study sessions. It's of course nothing like decades ago when people literally worshipped Mao's little red book.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/jack-ma-card-carrying-communist-what-makes-him-tick-n943981
Comments
Post a Comment