It’s good to see young people still read Marx in Russia. :)

In Russia, Marx is inseparable from Lenin.

By the way, listen to the story of how Russian officials, together with their Chinese counterparts, are selling a massive Soviet factory to China for scrap metal. It’s a disgrace!

When Platoshkin exposed this criminal scheme, a local official simply blew up the factory to cover his tracks…

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qsA-IegBgcg

And he’s right that full automation is fundamentally incompatible with capitalism because the whole system is based around consumption. You need wage workers who produce value, and then pay the capital owner to consume goods. If you eliminate wage workers from the system there’s nobody left to consume the goods. And once you have the majority of population become useless within the system it can no longer function.

And once again, capitalism is doing harm—this time, to the advancement of progress.

Basically what happened was that the US sat out the second world war and developed its economy while the rest of the world burned. Then they used their head start to prop up their ideological bloc during the Cold War and created the whole mythology that capitalism was a superior system and the standard of living in the west wasn’t because the US had a huge head start, but because capitalism is a superior system. Now that China has caught up and capitalism has destroyed all the material benefits western public enjoyed, we’re seeing the new generation sobering up.

As I understand it, during the Iron Curtain era, the only information that reached us from the other side was propaganda. And as I’ve come to realize decades later: Soviet propaganda told 90% the truth about the West, whereas Western propaganda told 90% lies about the USSR.

That is why people in the West are only now beginning to understand what socialism actually is—now that advanced Western capitalism has gone into a tailspin. I remember when I first joined Western forums back in 2015; people’s jaws would drop at the stories I told. At first, they didn’t believe me—they thought I was making it all up! I became very popular very quickly on that first Western forum.

cause there really wasn’t much other type of entertainment.

Comrade, those are just Western tall tales… )))) Деревянные игрушки, скользкий подоконник, каляска без дна))) I was never a homebody as a child. There was a sports ground in every courtyard; we played soccer there every day—it was impossible to get me to come home. In the winter, they’d flood the area to make an ice rink, and we’d play hockey. When my parents bought me a computer—a ZX Spectrum—I went wild and started skipping school, but even so, there was always a book on my nightstand; I read every day before bed.

I maintain that you have to look at the big picture here. The war isn’t between Russia and Ukraine, it’s between the west and the east. And the principle players are the US and China. So, the real question is which bloc can maintain discipline longer. As I’ve said many times before, Russia collapsing or becoming politically unstable would be a disaster for China. They rely on Russian food and energy imports, and Russia protects China’s western flank. If Russia was destabilized or balkanized, then it would become China’s Ukraine. Therefore, it’s obvious that China cannot allow that to happen under any circumstances. If Russia was genuinely in trouble then China would do everything in its power to bail them out. There’s no two ways about it.

To you, Russia’s defeat means Russia’s capitulation—something that is hardly likely. Yes, you’re right.

For me, Russia’s defeat means having Nazis left in my city.

Yes, you are absolutely right: China won’t allow Russia to be defeated, but it has no need for a strong Russia, either.

Freezing the conflict would be quite acceptable to China. It is also not in China’s interest for the West to lift sanctions on Russia; that is a fact.

And another fact is that China is profiting handsomely from this war. It sells dual-use goods to both sides of the conflict.

Yes, I agree that China acts solely in its own interests… its GDP is skyrocketing. China is prospering—that is indisputable.

Given this unarguable fact, the next question is who is in a better position to provide support. Can the US help Europe more than China can help Russia?

Yes, if it wanted to, China could help Russia win. But let me repeat: if it wanted to!

You can see that the US and Europe have essentially gone all-in right now; they are stretched to their limits—especially considering the war in Iraq. Meanwhile, China is taking it easy. Confucianism advocates for victory without a fight. That’s certainly wise.

I’d like that too—sitting on the couch with popcorn, watching a brutal slaughter, and winning in the process. That’s not something I know how to do; I guess you have to be really smart for that… )))

If I’d made smart moves like that in my life, I swear to you, I’d be a millionaire by now! There was a time when I could have climbed the ladder of success by stepping right over the heads of my loved ones and partners. I could have shortchanged my workers while raking in huge profits. I thought that was the right way to do things—that somewhere up in heaven, it would be duly recognized… what a naive fool I was!

But when I suddenly found myself cast aside by life, I had an epiphany. First, I stopped going to church because I realized it only “helps” the rich and successful. Second, I realized that in the capitalist world, you won’t get anywhere if you’re honest, open, and decent—you simply won’t survive. That’s a dogma, Comrade! A Biblical one, at that. ))))

The capitalist world is a three-headed serpent; the names of those heads are cunning, meanness, and betrayal!

And I don’t see what they can do to get out of Iran now. The problem is that Israel is now in an existential crisis, and they will not allow the US to leave. Given the amount of influence Israel has over the US, they will continue to drag them into deeper conflict with Iran. We can already see how the war has restarted and likely to escalate now that the US is attacking stuff like water facilities in Iran.

Yes, I fully agree—however cynical it may sound—that Russia was lucky in this regard.

but once the global energy shock hits

In southern Russia, especially in Crimea, people are facing major fuel shortages. I agree with you that this won’t be fatal for the situation at the front, but for the people, it’s a huge problem.

Listen to this guy—he’s Russian; I’ve marked the spot. Just keep in mind that he might be downplaying the issue, since he’s a Komsomolskaya Pravda correspondent.

https://youtu.be/hGi66DHc5TI?t=309

He’s a war correspondent of this caliber:

https://youtu.be/UoEqtyhCf-g?t=185

Comrade, just so you know: if I use “)))”, it means I’m joking.

Of course, one shouldn’t date events that way.

I wanted to highlight the fact that you agreed with me on at least one thing!)))

I think you’re reading more into my position than I have stated myself.

Yes, Comrade, you’re right. It’s a very painful subject for me.

To me, this is just like Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago, a work that slandered and humiliated the entire Soviet ideology. Both have fostered a distorted view of the Soviet era. They have given rise to all sorts of false theories that are published and circulated worldwide on a massive scale.

Yet the Soviet soul is all I have left in life now. I am being bombed every night, but I live in the past—I live on memories…

As for statistics on wealth over time, you can even see western articles framing this crackdown in “scary language.” The trend is gradual, but it isn’t nonexistent either.

Ma crossed a red line; Xi decided that the oligarchs were becoming a threat to him… though he seems to have realized this rather late.

We can certainly see Ma’s attempt to meddle in state affairs. People used to tell me that China has no oligarchs because Chinese billionaires don’t interfere in government business. Yet, I highly doubt that was the first time Ma had meddled in state affairs—after all, he is a long-standing Communist Party member.

To be honest, Comrade, what is actually happening in China is a closely guarded secret.

China isn’t acting as a predator.

I’m setting everything else aside and focusing solely on the Russia-China relationship.

Let me give you one example: when sanctions were imposed on Russia’s oil and gas sector, China agreed to buy more energy resources from Russia but demanded the price be lowered to match what Russian domestic consumers pay. Even Belarus pays more for Russian energy.

That is precisely the sticking point right now regarding the construction of the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline.

Putin is resisting for the time being, but I think that sooner or later, Xi will force him to cave—or at least that’s how it looks to me.

In essence, it’s blackmail—coming at a time when Putin has nowhere else to sell his energy resources but China.

Right, they aren’t predators; they’re angels with wings and halos… )))

It’s the same story with the logging China is doing in the protected Ussuri region. Under the Russian Constitution, all natural resources belong to the people of Russia, not China! China fells the timber in Russia and immediately ships it back to China. Doesn’t that remind you a lot of the resource deal between Trump and Zelenskyy?

Please read this carefully, Comrade. This is an Irkutsk publication, not the BBC. I highly recommend you go there—it’ll be a real eye-opener!

https://irkutskmedia.ru/news/658607/

Just don’t give me that double-standard routine again, Comrade.

They prop up cooperative agreements and don’t take away the autonomy from countries they deal with.

And who told you that a hegemon necessarily seizes foreign lands?

“A hegemon (from the Ancient Greek hēgemōn — leader, commander) is a state, political party, social class, or individual that possesses unquestionable superiority, exercises power, and dictates the rules.”

In case you didn’t know, after the 1917 revolution, the entire proletariat in the USSR was referred to as the hegemon. There are different kinds of hegemons, Comrade!

As for the DPRK, the WSJ still has their classic spin on it, but frankly the progress of the DPRK in recent years is undeniable, and the press profits from getting engagement. Reporting on the DPRK making progress is making some waves.

Let’s hope for the best! I have no issues with North Korea; they are true friends!

That American professor said that lately, a great many supporters of socialism have been emerging—among young people in the US and elsewhere. But this isn’t because they are committed socialists; rather, they are protesting against capitalism, and since there is no alternative to socialism, and people want change…

https://youtu.be/jnaI-UzWVs4

Every form of automation is turned against the worker under capitalism.

Comrade, you know a thing or two about economics—please take a look at this video; it’s short. At the end, there are formulas he uses to prove the opposite.

Do you agree with this?

https://youtu.be/LfRdDwgky0A

That’s Comrade Semin; Semin promoted him on YouTube. He’s a socialist, too.

It’s really gratifying to see young people in Russia starting to think so progressively. And most importantly, they base their arguments on science rather than Solzhenitsyn’s tall tales or fairy tales about God.

I’m convinced that the politics of common sense and science—which Musk championed before—for some reason—going quiet—will sooner or later prevail over the politics of obscurantism or “popcorn and Coke,” both in Russia and the US.

I listened to Semin recently; he attended an international communist congress in Britain a few years back. He represented the Russian Communist Party there (not the CPRF).

And the main thing is—honestly, Comrade—he used the exact same words I’ve been using for a long time. Their concept of socialism is somewhat abstract; every speaker at the forum said something different—there’s no unified concept, no single clear idea; it’s all very unrefined.

But on the other hand, progressive youth there—not just those with socialist views—are starting to realize that capitalism has outlived its usefulness, that it’s a hollow sham. So, they’re beginning to look for an alternative. Meanwhile, in Russia, the so-called progressive youth are only just starting to soak up the joys of capitalist life, because they didn’t get a chance to enjoy it for 40 years… ))) There’s a lag and some gaps here, too.

It turns out there’s a Marx Library in London; I didn’t know that… ))))

“Marx remains relevant as long as capitalism exists.”

https://youtu.be/am-D1MtZ7Xg

And agree that education needs to change significantly at this point. A lot of education focuses on rote memorization, but what’s really important now is the ability to integrate the available information, evaluate it, and make decisions. Basically, applying dialectical thinking to the world. Also very much agree that USSR education was far better and broader. Becoming an intellectual was basically seen as the way to move up in society. In the west it’s just about making money which creates a very narrow and selfish horizon for people.

A quick side note: In the USSR, children were made to grow up early and shed their illusions, not the other way around.

As for Hollywood movies—if you strip away the sex, violence, and drugs, the vast majority of them are essentially children’s films.

When I got to know American culture better, I was really surprised to learn that adults read comic books… In the USSR, the closest thing to comics was produced only for children who were just learning to read (before starting school). Personally, I was already reading Pushkin and had memorized several poems before I even started school—though I read comics, too.

Comic books, for crying out loud… )))) At age seven, I read H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. I remember staying up all night in fear after reading The Time Machine.

And I’d borrowed the book from a classmate—a friend who had highly recommended it to me…

But why am I telling you this, Comrade? You were just like that yourself once… )))) You saw it all firsthand!

Teaching kids to experiment using computers in school is actually a really good idea. Once they develop the mindset it’s applicable everywhere, and easily transfers to working with the physical world too.

I’ll join Marx and add this: as long as capitalism exists, education will be crap! Because they aren’t raising intellectuals—they’re raising docile workers for their factories. Intellectuals don’t serve their interests; intellectuals think too much and notice too much… and then they say things that are highly inconvenient for the powers that be…

I do think we’ll need to restructure society in significant ways

I’m afraid restructuring won’t be enough.

Putin actually addressed that in SPIEF, and he rejected any proposals.

Zelenskyy wrote a letter to Putin following a meeting with Abramovich. Putin responded to that letter with a refusal—one that was rude and boorish, accompanied by blackmail and threats. It was impossible to respond to that letter in any other way.

The fact is that during his visit to Kyiv, Abramovich met with Arakhamia—whom I mentioned earlier; Arakhamia is a business partner of Abramovich. Abramovich arranged a private conversation between Putin and Arakhamia. Mind you, not with Zelenskyy, but with Arakhamia! No one knows what they discussed, but Zelenskyy soon found out about it; it was only after learning this that he wrote an open letter to Putin—effectively burning all bridges. Arakhamia is the head of “Servant of the People,” Zelenskyy’s party.

On one hand, we are witnessing a certain internal political rift in Ukraine, which could eventually lead to an escalation of the domestic power struggle. On the other hand, the situation is not quite so simple; the fact that Putin deigned to speak with a secondary figure reflects poorly on him. Peace benefits figures like Arakhamia or Budanov, as one of them could become the future president—a president considered legitimate by Russia, provided they agree to Putin’s terms (which would be more lenient than the Istanbul agreements).

While the situation on the ground has currently stabilized for the Russians, the blockade of Crimea and strikes deep within Russian territory are fueling growing discontent within Russian society—among both the elites and the general public. After all, most of the factories being hit belong to Russian oligarchs, and they are suffering colossal losses from the war every day.

Every night, hundreds of Ukrainian drones inflict real damage on the Russian economy. Last night, sirens sounded in several Russian regions for the first time since the war began. The geographical scope of the strikes is gradually expanding. Recently, there has also been widespread use of “Flamingo” missiles, which have a range of thousands of kilometers. The strikes have become combined operations. Russia cannot inflict equivalent damage in return because all major industrial and energy sector facilities have already been bombed repeatedly since the start of the war. What would truly make an impact is the destruction of the bridges across the Dnieper. Furthermore, the Russians are currently systematically dismantling the port of Odesa with their strikes. Yesterday, Ukraine struck the Sevastopol State Museum, a symbol of the city. We see Zelenskyy escalating the situation more and more. This implies that retaliatory strikes on Kyiv or the bridges work to his advantage; the greater the destruction, the more money flows in from Europe. And don’t overlook nuances such as the fact that India is the largest supplier of diesel to Ukraine—fuel refined in India from Russian oil. Similarly, Romania and Hungary supply gas to Ukraine that they themselves receive from Russia. Ukraine’s energy system has been fragmented into small, isolated segments; when a single facility is hit, it can be repaired very quickly. I believe that, under these circumstances, Ukraine will hold out at least until the autumn cold sets in. This is evident in Zelenskyy’s recent smug and brazen demeanor. He weathered the crisis surrounding the Mindich tapes and shifted his war strategy, yielding results. The current situation resembles World War I, with the key difference being that Germany did not possess nuclear weapons back then. Had uprisings not broken out in Germany at that time, they likely would have erupted in France shortly thereafter. We do not know for certain the extent of Russia’s resilience compared to that of the united West. The question is who can suppress mass unrest—which will sooner or later erupt—for the longest time and most effectively. We are leaving Ukraine out of the equation; Zelensky and the united West have the Ukrainian people in a tight stranglehold.

As for Russia, it faces daily strikes, the intensity of which—at the very least—will not diminish…

Whether the Russians can turn the tide on the front line on a large scale remains a major question at this moment.

You can see that my view of the situation differs somewhat from yours.

I think we might be approaching the end game. The US is fucked in Iran, the war just restarted again, and the US economy is on the brink because they’re running out of the reserve and won’t be able to stabilize gas prices for long now. Europe is collapsing as well, and nobody in the west cares about Ukraine at this point. It’s barely even mentioned in the news here now. It’s over.

I wonder what would happen if Trump were impeached right now and a new president took office? How would they handle the Iran issue? Say, if the Democrats came to power, for instance.

It seems to me that the easiest thing to do is just blame everything on Trump and bow out.

Yes, I think Iran has a much better chance of decisively defeating the US than Russia does. Iran has a clear stance, whereas Russia constantly wavers. At times, Putin resembles Trump with his “red lines” and loud rhetoric. This is because Zelenskyy has adopted the Iranian strategy of warfare, where—despite the enemy’s overwhelming superiority in weaponry and resources—one can still deal them very painful blows. There is currently no effective countermeasure against this type of strategy. The strikes target the economy for the most part, rather than military installations.

Yes, if Trump fails to stop the war, something bad might well start happening by autumn—both in Europe and in the US…

However, I don’t think this will affect the war in Ukraine in the short term. Although rumors are circulating here that the war will end in the autumn—I haven’t found the original source for this, but I’m hearing it from various quarters. We shall see.

It’s widely acknowledged that the later Mao

We’ve finally reached a consensus, Comrade! There’s just a slight discrepancy regarding the dates. You say the late Mao era began in 1968, whereas I maintain that the late Mao era you’re referring to actually began after Stalin’s death. Let me just clarify one more thing: from 1950 onwards—after suffering four strokes—Stalin didn’t really make any major decisions in the country. A triumvirate was formed—Malenkov, Beria, and Molotov—to prepare all key state projects, while Stalin merely affixed the final approval. So, in essence, Stalin had already died back in 1950.

If we settle on a middle ground… say, 1959—would that work for you, Comrade?.. ))))

I’m aware that Mao believed that.

Yes, exactly! That is the main argument—held by the Chinese themselves, by Western socialists (Trotskyists), and by the “new breed” of Western socialists (like you): that China fell out with the USSR because Khrushchev pursued a policy of “openness.” But I keep telling you all that this isn’t true, and it wasn’t about Stalin! The reason was something else entirely.

Relations between Khrushchev and Mao deteriorated completely after Mao asked the USSR to build a nuclear submarine fleet for China. Khrushchev agreed, but with the stipulation that the fleet would be a joint venture and based in Soviet Far Eastern ports. For some reason, Mao took great offense at this and refused. Now you can see just how brazen Mao was. These are all matters of public record; you can read about it yourself.

I believe the reason for the rift was that, after Stalin’s death, Mao considered himself the world’s leading socialist—superior to the others and capable of handling everything on his own. He did not view Khrushchev as his equal.

We saw how that turned out.

As for cracking down on flaunting wealth, if your impression is already highly skeptical of China, it can seem that it’s only to hide it from the public.

Yes, I know the statistics: wage growth in China is 4–6% annually. But I’m not convinced that wages are rising only for the poor—or that the 4–6% gains belonging to the middle and upper classes are being taken away and redistributed to China’s lower-income population.

Show me the data on that trend, and then I’ll agree with you.

I’d like to see statistics for these companies:

JD.com: The revenue leader among China’s private enterprises, generating around 1.16 trillion yuan annually.

Alibaba Group: JD.com’s main rival in the e-commerce market, showing steady growth driven by logistics and international expansion.

ByteDance (owner of TikTok): The fastest-growing brand and largest private tech corporation. According to analyst reports, its brand value grew by 45% in a single year, reaching $153.5 billion.

In cases where profits surged by 45% (an increase of 70 billion per year), exactly how much of that actually went to the poorer segments of the population?

Sorry, Comrade, but you’re probably mistaken here…

You only have to look at how China conducts its foreign policy.

Take the relationship between China and Russia: Xi acts like a predator. Do you see what I mean? China dictates harsh terms. There is no question of an equal partnership—and there never will be. Xi acts from a position of strength. I also dislike the fact that China has moved into Siberia and is logging the protected Ussuri forests. I could show you a petition from the Ussuri people asking the state to put a stop to this outrage. I don’t like that China is building a chemical plant on the shores of Lake Baikal that will pollute the lake. Let them build that crap back home. China has completely pushed out Russian cars; some auto giants went bankrupt and are now forced to switch to manufacturing Chinese vehicles, which undermines Russia’s industrial potential and drags it into deeper dependence on China. Recently, the presence of Chinese companies in Russia has increased tenfold. It’s expansionism, Comrade! Domestic manufacturers are being squeezed out.

Thank God that Chinese factories in Russia have to follow the Russian Labor Code—people are forbidden from working more than eight hours a day. We certainly don’t need any “Chinese miracles” here!!

Do you seriously think that this kind of Chinese foreign policy allows its partners to feel like equals?

I was only talking about Russia; I didn’t even mention Africa…

When you consider—as you well know—that the Chinese are ardent nationalists, a certain picture of the future begins to emerge.

But in any case: a Chinese hegemon is far better than a US hegemon. By the way, I came across an interesting article:

https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/north-korea-economy-success-e80f7062

But honestly, whenever I see something positive written in the West about North Korea or China, it immediately puts me off. It makes me feel like there’s a catch.

My expectation is that most people would be productive even if they didn’t have to work. People like making things, it’s in our nature. Imagine a society where you had minimal work, but you had things like community workshops, and places where you can get together with people to build whatever you want.

This can only be possible when AI is channeled in the right direction. AI should free people from work, not so they become unemployed, as would happen under capitalism, but so they have more time for creativity.

I think more attention should be paid to childhood education, so that children can be instilled with a passion for something sublime from an early age. How can you instill anything in a child today if all they see is profit?

The education system needs to be completely overhauled—that’s where we need to start.

By the way, Stalin personally edited the first Soviet history textbook for schoolchildren. He also placed great emphasis on educating young people.

As that liberal philosopher who fears work said, it won’t work! First education, then a creature—not the other way around. And studying is hard work, so you can’t just slack off and become Lomonosov. We need an educational foundation for that. Therefore, from early childhood, children must work; they must become accustomed to work in order to achieve real results in the future. They also need an incentive to do so, and it’s best if it’s not money, but high ideals, as was the case in the USSR, the most educated and well-read country in the world. I’ve already experienced this firsthand: the horizons of a Westerner are much narrower than those of someone raised in the USSR. In the USSR, creative people were trained from school, while in the West, they produce narrow specialists who don’t need anything beyond their specialty. They don’t need critical thinking, for whom life is a chain of simple algorithms.

Plenty of people write large software projects just because they find it interesting, they don’t make any money off them, and the goal is purely to make something interesting.

I understand everything here because I experienced it myself, with my son.

The attraction to computer programs lies in the fact that a child, as soon as they begin to understand, immediately becomes passionately fascinated with computers. There comes a time when the child gets bored with computer games and wants to get something more from the computer, but the computer still fascinates them as much as ever. If your father is a millionaire, at this point you can turn into Bill Gates or Elon Musk.

The reason it works for software is because anybody with a laptop can do it, but I think it would work exactly the same for building physical things if tools were readily available.

But I would slightly modify your concept of the new world. It’s not about people having free access to production facilities or laboratories, but about computer simulators of various processes in schools.

A cultural revolution in society is needed.

Hello, Comrade!

It was very loud last night. The drones were buzzing for a very long time.

The entire ring road is blocked off with nets; there’s a battle for the logistics arteries. The Ukrainians, just like before, are delivering painful blows every night into Crimea and deeper into Russia. You’ve probably heard that Crimea is currently experiencing serious fuel shortages. The resort season is being disrupted. Both the Russians and the Ukrainians are methodically destroying gas stations on key roads.

Regarding the front line, the Russians broke through at Kostantynivka. The Ukrainians were planning to advance on Kursk or Bryansk again to divert attention from key areas of the front, like last time. They use this tactic when they start having problems at the front.

This breakthrough to Kostantynivka has probably thwarted their plans, because they’ll have to redeploy reserves to Kostantynivka.

It feels like the Russians have somehow managed to eliminate the Ukrainians’ drone parity. I could be wrong, of course, but we’ll see. Kostiantynivka was taken very quickly. This city, if I’m not mistaken, is larger than Pokrovsk. We’ll see if the Ukrainian Armed Forces can stabilize the front in this direction.

But still, this doesn’t mean anything yet. You’ve probably heard that Abramovich came to Kyiv. This suggests that Putin isn’t interested in continuing the war. And that says a lot. Abramovich is Putin’s behind-the-scenes liaison with the West. Because Abramovich lives in London and maintains good relations with everyone. Abramovich was also present at the negotiations in Istanbul. His old business partner, Arakhamia, was also present in Istanbul, but on behalf of Ukraine.

Trump has completely disappeared into oblivion. No one listens to him anymore, neither Europe nor Zelensky. Now they’re playing their own game, judging by Zelensky’s last visit to Britain, where they looked very pleased, judging by their faces. Zelensky looks more cheerful and upbeat than ever. And Trump’s days, in my opinion, are numbered. He won’t pull through.

Everything depends on the path China chooses when it becomes a hegemon! A great deal hinges on that.

You could be correct, but we would never know.

If only people in the USSR back then had known what they stood to lose…

Regarding the Mass Line, it is essentially the tactic of taking policy from the people, and having the party reinterpret it and enact it accordingly. It is a way to avoid commandism and tailism, and has been applied by various ML or Maoist parties. Maoists tend to believe it is universal, while MLs tend to believe it is particular to certain conditions similar to China’s experience.

Yes, I’ve familiarized myself a bit with the mass line; yes, I agree, it’s a very good idea.

While looking into it, I came across this:

“But the socialist system in our country has been established only recently; its formation is not yet complete, and it has not yet fully consolidated itself. In joint state-private industrial and commercial enterprises, capitalists still receive a fixed percentage—that is, exploitation still exists; in terms of ownership, enterprises of this type are not yet fully socialist in character. Some agricultural and handicraft production cooperatives still retain a semi-socialist character; even in fully socialist cooperatives, certain specific issues regarding ownership still need to be resolved.”

No, Comrade, it wasn’t Xi who said that; it was Mao in 1957… ))) I hope you catch the hint, Comrade.

I decided to explore Mao’s writings a bit and chose this book:

“On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People”

the censorship of flaunting wealth on social media

This is likely not an attempt to combat ostentatious displays of wealth, but rather a move to temper public resentment—to keep it out of the public eye.

and punishing those found guilty of corruption

By the way, a fierce crackdown on corruption is currently underway in Russia. This began after the war started, when it turned out that everyone had been pulling the wool over Putin’s eyes with inflated reports. A great many generals are currently in prison, and the same applies to local officials; Putin has given them a bit of a shake-up.

Corruption is dangerous and harmful under any political system.

China, the number of billionaires is decreasing

Yes, I heard that the number of billionaires has decreased slightly.

No, that’s not at all what I mean, Comrade!

I am talking about double standards:

The Chinese CPC labeled Khrushchev’s rapprochement with the West as “Khrushchev’s revisionism.”

Some time later, Deng initiated a rapprochement with the West. The Chinese CPC called this “opening up.”

but to equate Khrushchev and Deng is to make a clear error.

Khrushchev was a pale, insignificant figure compared to Stalin—and likely compared to Mao, too.

Someone in China once said—I don’t recall the exact words or who said it—that Mao was the matador and Khrushchev the bull.

Comparing Mao and Khrushchev is indeed inappropriate—except, perhaps, regarding their education and experience in economic management. In every other respect, Mao was a far more significant figure. A characteristic trait of Khrushchev’s during the Stalin era was that he executed orders very well but never showed initiative. That is likely how Khrushchev differed from Mao; Khrushchev was a sycophant and a careerist.

For instance, during the purges, Khrushchev ranked second in terms of the number of people on the lists of suspects he submitted to Stalin for approval. He was zealous in his efforts to curry favor with Stalin.

And then he accused Stalin of the very thing he himself did better than anyone else… )))

Yeah, Russell is the quintessential British liberal, hence the disdain for the working class in all his work.

Yes, exactly, his article is steeped in contempt for work.

So much so that he considers writers and artists slackers—that sounds ridiculous to me.

Example: Jules Verne worked very intensively. His workday lasted up to 15 hours. The writer strictly adhered to the following schedule:

Start: early morning, from 4:00 AM to 5:00 AM.

Finish: late evening (around 8:00 PM). Daily output: he wrote 10 to 20 printed pages daily, which allowed him to publish several seminal novels a year.

How can you call this man a slacker, and where would he find the time to work for four hours, only to then… in his “free time” pursue creativity?

And what mark did this man leave on history?

But he does get at the irrationality of capitalism here where the goal is simply to maximize profit with no regard for anything else.

Yes, I liked his logic, at some point I even got carried away reading it.

I also very much agree with your point that overwork turns people into zombies.

I saw this with my own eyes in Moscow. People on the metro are empty-eyed, detached, and always in a hurry. Such are the conditions for survival there.

My view is that required work should be minimized as much as possible, and people should have the ability to choose how they spend their time.

I’m not sure about the 4-hour period. I doubt unemployment in more or less developed countries is 50%… it’s probably not even like that in Africa.

But 6-8 hours, depending on the complexity of the job, would be normal.

Yes, that makes sense.