The paper starts with the history of China and elucidates the entry of western capitalism into China in different stages, including the historic opium wars. Then the discussion starts with the history of China. The transformation of china from communist form to capitalist type is indicated stage by stage. Then the positive aspects of capitalism fueling communism are discussed in detail. This is followed by the negative aspects that capitalism has brought into the communist nature of china. Finally, the paper concludes to take the positive aspects that western capitalism has brought into communism, and the negative aspects have to be dealt with carefully and avoided to the core.
China has a rich heritage of culture with a lot of dynasties and kingdoms. Some of them include Song, Liao, Jin, Tang, ming, etc. The dynasties are replaced by the modern era after the fall of the Qing dynasty. The Manchus were highly responsible for the entry of western powers into china. The Manchus allowed the western powers for trade purposes. Portuguese were the pioneers, followed by the Spanish, British, and French. Manchus strengthened their communist power by entering into a deal with Russia. The trade leads to the British selling Opium to China from India. Opium trade was strictly prohibited by the qing dynasty, and this led to the first AngloChinese war known as the Opium war (1839 -1842). China was defeated in the war and handed over Hongkong to the British. This marked the spread of western capitalism into China. On October 1, 1949, the People’s Republic of China was formally established, with its national capital at Beijing. The period of officially designated “transition to socialism” corresponded to China’s First Five-Year Plan (1953-57). The period was characterized by efforts to achieve industrialization, collectivization of agriculture, and political centralization. This is the period when western capitalism started fuelling communism in China. The communist government is still in power in China.
The impact of capitalism on culture and society is an issue that really stands apart from all of the other economic concerns. In many ways, the cultural impacts of capitalism overshadow all other considerations of the system. It is capitalism’s impact on society that has shaped Western Civilization for the past 200 years. The cultural impacts of capitalism are extremely varied, and this has left room for its proponents to champion its merits as well as its detractors to criticize its ill effects.
Positive Aspects
Western Capitalism fueling communism is a good sign for the improvement of people’s lifestyles and employment status. The Work Culture changes to a win-win situation, and this encourages workers to increase productivity and, in turn, the company to increase the profits.
Western capitalism brings in good quality education in all aspects, and this improves the social status of people. In the subject of education, only eighty percent of Vietnam’s population is educated. The government does not provide free public education to its people, and not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to afford it. Many children, especially those in the rural areas, are pulled out of schools as soon as they know how to read and write, for some parents also feel that learning Marxism-Leninism does not benefit their families’ income, i.e., putting food in their mouth. Further education is really not an option, for these children also have to work in order to raise their families. Begging in the streets, polishing shoes, toiling on the farms are some of the many jobs that children at the age of five are actively doing since finding food for themselves and their families is their sole occupation.
Fortunately, children in many capitalist nations are provided with adequate tools and supplies in their public schools. Almost all of the American population has at least passed the elementary and middle school levels. College students who are in financial need do not have to worry much since the government is willing to give out grants and provide loans that can be paid back later on. Under Communism, education is really not as beneficial to an individual as it would be for someone living under a democratic society. In Vietnam, for example, a job is still hard to find even if someone possesses a Masters’s degree in some sort of area. Again, someone would either need some kind of connection with higher authority or would have to work for the communist government. All these overheads and bureaucratic structures are eliminated in communism fuelled by western capitalism.
Western Capitalism empowers women in society to a great extent. It strongly emphasizes the fact that both men and women are equal in all aspects.
Western Capitalism eliminates the drawbacks of communism and paves the way for overall country development. Allowing an influx of external culture increases the likelihood of destabilizing the homogeneity of the society. As such, communistic systems tend to block out external cultures and exclude outside competition, weakening the system’s ability to learn from, or compete with, external economies. This is entirely removed in the capitalist economy.
Most of the criticism of communism is focused on the policies adopted by one-party states ruled by Communist parties. This monopoly is eliminated to the core in communism fuelled by Western Capitalism.
Negative Aspects
Capitalism has met with strong opposition throughout its history, largely from the left but also from the right; and from religious elements. Many 19th century conservatives were among the most strident critics of capitalism, seeing market exchange and commodity production as threats to cultural and religious traditions. The greatest negative aspect of western Capitalism is that it leads to the elimination of the existing culture and traditions.
The greatest threat of all is the western capitalism has decomposed family tradition to a great extent. It has made families separate as both males and females go to work. As per this system, everyone is viewed as a commodity. Capitalism is, therefore, resulting in the transformation of family development into commodities. Instead of a woman or man staying home to raise children, they go to work, where their labor is quantified and returned to them in the form of a paycheck, which is recognized by themselves and society as a measure of self-worth. That paycheck is then used to pay someone else to care for the children, buy processed food, and buy other products and services to substitute for the care of the parent. This process results in an increase in GDP, but in truth, this is an ineffective system that is resulting in massive loss of value from American society, however, this process is a result of the natural tendency of the capitalist system to transform things that are not a part of the market system into commodities.
Western Capitalism leads to a lot of ego clashes between the opposite sexes. This shows that the relationship between the sexes is going to worsen further in a Western Capitalist economy.
Western Capitalism arouses competition among companies to win all the time. This leads to a lot of malpractices, corruption, misbehavior, and unethical practices to achieve first place or win in the competition.
It is not acceptable in most modern societies to allow portions of their population to be “culled.” i.e., the winners will always enjoy the benefits, and the rest will suffer. This concept again makes richer become richer and poorer become poorer, which drastically reduces competition.
Those in power tend to construct rules that limit diversity and competition, thereby weakening the flexibility and strength of the system as a whole. Vast imbalances in opportunity encourage revolt, which disrupts and destabilizes the system.
Western Capitalism leads to sexual abuse and domestic violence of women in society.
Critics of capitalism consider economic regulation necessary in order to reduce corruption, negligence, and a slew of other problems they attribute to free markets.
The crime rate is huge in capitalist nations compared to communist nations as the punishments are not as severe as in communist areas. So, there is a high chance of people committing crimes and being left unpunished.
Some problems claimed to be associated with capitalism include seemingly unfair and inefficient distribution of wealth and power; a tendency toward market monopoly or oligopoly (and government by oligarchy); imperialism, various forms of economic exploitation; and phenomena such as social alienation, inequality, unemployment, and economic instability.
There are both positive and negative aspects of capitalism fuelling communism. A system where individuals are driven by self-interest and profit motive to produce goods and services does encourage many people to work, and it does lead to the development of a broad diversity of products, but the system is far from perfect, and the negative effects of such a system leave much to be desired. The profit motive, consolidation of capital, and a market economy clearly also provide a great incentive for exploitation and social manipulation.
Communism proves to not be particularly evil but can also be beneficial too. On the same token, it limits the freedom and individuality that make someone who they really are. Even though Capitalism does satisfy individuality yet, it tears away the ideal practices of family values and moral values altogether. One cannot say that either Communism or Capitalism is healthy or unhealthy because both of their existing place positive and negative effects on any present society. Communism has failed to achieve its goal to create a nation in which all people are equal. The rulers in a communist society have ended up being dictators and malevolent rulers. This dictatorial government represses the people of communism. The purpose of communism has not been achieved because equality has not been reached. Communism is not the answer to a society in which all people are equal. For this reason, Western capitalism can be introduced into communism to eliminate the pitfalls in it.
The positive aspects of Western capitalism fuelling communism can be taken into consideration for the overall development of the country. A limit must be established analyzing the positive and negative aspects, and If this limit is exceeded, then it will lead to a culture war in which most Western capitalism will win the war over communism. Finally, a saturation level must be established where both Western capitalism and communism coexist together.
References
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- Brian C. Anderson. “Capitalism and the Suicide of Culture.”. 2000.
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- Joseph Stalin. “An Analysis of communism”
- Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. “The Communist Manifesto.3/4
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