Mao Zedong 1893 – 1976
Maoism
Mao Zedong is relevant to ”The Machine” due to his own version of Marxism. Much like Lenin he wished to over-throw the feudal system in China and install a government representing the workers. With little success with the workers, Mao then focused on the peasants. Coming from a peasant family, Mao was able to connect with them the peasants and educate with great personal perspective on the Marxist ideology.
Mao was successful in bringing about a virulent revolutionary spirit. His Red Army was notorious for its relentless torture tactics that were performed on prisoners. After years of fighting several factions, Mao eventually took control of China’s media and promoted his ideology and his Communist Party. Mao was then able to take control of China. His terror reign began with mass repression and mass executions of intellectuals, businessmen, counter revolutionaries, and the Chinese landowners. During this campaign of repression and terror as many as 5 million people may have been killed, many of them in mass suicides, along with 1.5 million people sent to labor camps all in the name of securing the country.
From 1953-1958 Mao implemented the “Five Year Plan”, which was a plan aimed at converting China’s predominately agricultural culture to a slightly more industrialized and independent culture. With aid from the Communist Soviet Union, many industrial plants were built. Eventually China stood on its own expanding its industrial relevance.
In 1958 Mao laid out plans for his next five year plan called the “Great Leap Forward”. This plan included the confiscation of land, property, and education reforms. With Mao’s own form of “No Child Left Behind”, he simplified the Chinese written language in order to increase literacy. With Mao’s focus on Marxist collectivism, he implemented working communes were peasants were forced to work on massive infrastructure projects, demanded that all private food be banned and confiscated, and forced the surrender of all private livestock.
With broad strokes of governmental power, Mao experimented with new unproven agricultural techniques in his communes. Along with the removal of incentives on production these government regulations, grain production dropped as much as 14% in 1959. In 1960 there was a further 10% drop in production. With pressure from the government to produce, grain producers exaggerated production and caused mass confusion on food planning by the government. The result of this confusion and several natural disasters was the “Great Chinese Famine”.
There are conflicting reports about the death toll of the “Great Chinese Famine”. Some estimates put death tolls over 70 million people as a result of this extreme regulation. It is apparent that the Chinese government was incapable of controlling food production. Needless to say, this was a failure and prompted Mao to cancel the government program in 1962.
It was simply the beginning of the realization by Mao that his tyrannical programs were failing as a whole. Many of the infrastructure projects also were proven a failure as Mao rejected the use of engineers due to his own ideological views. When Mao was faced with Political opposition with the release of proof to the public that the “Great Leap Forward” was a failure, Mao purge his opposition to suppress the failures.
Despite the evil tyranny and oppression that Mao pressed on his people, his popularity was exceptional. This cult of personality was driven by massive promotion of Mao in artwork, music, indoctrination in schools, and shrines all over China. The power of his popularity is still prevalent today as many murals still exist all over China bearing his image. A pop culture still exists as well as the youth still are taught of Mao’s supposed god-like brilliance regardless of his massive policy failures.
One of the most important philosophies of Mao that must be mentioned is the “Third World Theory”. There are many versions of this theory you can find when researching. Some will say that Lenin created this theory. Mao’s version is the most relevant as his Vice-Premier, Deng Xiaoping, unveiled this theory in a speech at the United Nations in 1974.
What this theory explained was that the world was separated by 3 separate sectors or worlds. The “First World” was representative of the Imperialistic countries like the United States and the former Soviet Union. The “Second World” was made of countries like Australia, Japan, and many countries in Europe. The “Third World” was made up of countries like China, South American countries, and African countries. At the United Nations speech Xiaoping claimed that China would remain a Third World country.
This stance to stay in the “Third World” is a Marxist defeatist ideology. By subduing the wealth of the people, you can subdue their power. This “Three World” ideological structure is much like the upper class, middle class, and the lower class argument. There is no coincidence that this is a political tool being used. The use of this argument is to bring animosity to the ill defined and disenfranchised lower class. This is what we are experiencing now in the United States. Politicians, with the help of Acorn and other community organizing groups, are using Alinskian tactics to redistribute votes and redistribute wealth. Once the redistributive balance is made, the system will begin to de-industrialize and become “Third World”.
On a global scale, the United Nations is doing this as well. With “Global Warming” legislation on the horizon in American and the Kyoto Treaty or one like it in the United Nations, the de-industrialization is apparent. This is not a claim but a fact.
Maurice Strong – founding director of the UN Environment Program (UNEP), said at a United Nations conference:
"isn't the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse?
Isn't it our responsibility to bring that about?"
