Capitalism Saved Communist China

Did Capitalism Save Communist China? presented by Helen Raleigh

How did one of the world’s poorest countries—China—become, in thirty years, one of the world’s richest? There’s a one-word answer. Capitalism.

Here’s how it happened.

In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (aka the CCP), defeated the Nationalist party in a brutal civil war. The leader of the CCP, Mao Zedong, promised the Chinese people that he would create a new China, a socialist paradise where the benevolent state would take care of every citizen's needs from shelter to education to employment. No more greedy businessmen. Factories would be owned by their workers. No more evil landowners. The state would own all property on behalf of the people. No more hunger. Everyone could eat as much as they want at public cafeterias.

To transform China into this heaven-on-earth, Mao launched radical socialist reforms: industries were nationalized, private businesses were eliminated, and land was confiscated. But rather than turning China into a heaven on earth, these policies turned China into a hell-on-earth. Healthcare was cheap but there was a chronic shortage of doctors, hospitals, and modern medicine. No one was unemployed because the government gave each person a job. But if you didn't like the job you were assigned, well, that was just too bad. Your government-assigned job was tied to your food ration. No work, no food.