History 471

Washington Post Article February 28, 2007

I thought the Post article Dr. Fernsebner sent out this week was interesting, especially when considering where the Sue Williams documentary “Born Under the Red Flag” was going today.

Just for a review, here is the article.

Deng’s economic reforms lead China on a double path of Communism and Capitalism, but in recent years Capitalism is winning out.  I think it’s important that China is proud of it’s modernization, but the Chinese are still reluctant about admitting they have accumulated wealth. The documentary touched on the biggest problem which the article mentions: corruption. The Post mentions tax collection is still not standardized and so Chinese citizens may fear reporting their income, but I also think it’s probable there are ideological layovers from the Mao era even among the Capitalists. Many people want to flaunt their money but hold back from doing so. The article says that the first Capitalists in the 80′s knew they would be criticized and so they were already the people who had nothing left to lose, but now China’s economy is growing rapidly and more people are benefitting.

The last segment of the documentary today mentioned Deng broke with the expectations of the students. I’m looking forward to learning more about it and how this affected China’s economy in the 90′s.