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Pondering Marx in the dark
http://www.sina.com.cn 2003/09/05 14:32  上海英文星报

  On vacation in Toronto recently I was deluged by questions from Canadian friends and family fascinated - but also confused - about the contemporary nature and direction of Chinese society.

  At the same time I was able to access the Shanghai Star online, insgroupsto follow the intriguing discussion about the meaning of such politically charged words as "socialism", "capitalism" and "the market economy" provoked by a businessman's attempt to register the name "Shanghai Capitalist Competition Advisory Company."

  At least, I was able to follow this discussion until the local power system collapsed, plunging the eastern seaboard of North America into darkness and electronic dysfunction.

  Huddled in the baking gloom, reading Karl Marx's "Capital" by candlelight, my thoughts naturally turned to the role of efficient markets and reliable technology in the promotion of social well-being. Marx's 19th-century classic was intellectually stimulating as always, but the ideas of Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin seemed more relevant to understanding the blackout.

  For Marx, "capitalist" technology and market relations conspired to destroy the livelihood of the great masses of the population. The former by intensifying the exploitation of labour power, the latter by ensuring wage rates sank in strict proportion to technological progress. "Capitalism" defined a social system in which the benefits of advanced machinery and systems of exchange were turned against the populace to the ultimate disadvantage of all - because profits would also steadily collapse along with the impoverishment of the workers.

  Marx provided little guidance as to the nature of "socialism", yet in the West "socialists" have consistently supported central planning, opposed free markets, and - more recently - set themselves resolutely against technological progress and economic growth in the name of vague "green" objectives. Stranger still, in the US such reactionary thinking is now called "liberal."

  Chinese marxism has moved well beyond such limitations, recognizing that broadly based achievements in social well-being - "socialism" in the most positive sense of the word - are based upon the liberation of the forces of production through market-oriented reform and the promotion of science and technology. Efficient markets are themselves elaborate social institutions, delivering indispensable information to producers, lowering living costs, and driving innovation, while technological networks such as the electricity grid or the Internet constitute the key infrastructures upon which living standards rest - essential public goods rather than weapons of class domination.

  Words such as "socialist", "capitalist", "liberal" and "conservative" will no doubt continue to be used in bewilderingly multivarious ways, both within and between different societies. Linguistic meanings emerge from below and rarely respond to top-down attempts to impose clarity or consistency.

  It is surely better to stick to the reality of the issue, which is social development - the "absolute argument" as Deng Xiaoping contended - along with the robust markets, entrepreneurial culture and top-notch technological infrastructure required to sustain it. Words might generate plenty of heat, but it's development that keeps the lights on.




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