Memes

Economists will continue to prefer analytical terms.

Yes western liberal economists prefer calling it state capitalist as the funding for their research and prestige depends on it. "State capitalism" is also political ideological label that serves capitalist interests as it obfuscates the nature of socialist states

It only confuses if you decide to use a non-Leninist definition of the state. The state exists to manage class contradictions. Are the classes being managed different than in capitalist states? No, but their political class has a different character than in the west. The party is larger, more powerful, tangible and broad though still operating with bourgeois principles, interests and aspirations. The bureaucratic class sustains the bourgeois class, gives concessions to the working class, maintains a petite bourg middle class, as a project that obfuscates the capitalist class in opposition to, and exploiting, a working and toiling classes.

The state exists to establish and maintain supremacy of one class over the others, and in China that class is the proletariat. The communist party is large, indeed, but it isn't "operating with bourgeois principles," whatever that means. There is no obfuscation of class struggle.

Is the “socialist state” withering away? No, it is growing more powerful. IMO an ideology more concerned with socialist states over socialist internationalism is the ideology of state bureaucrats, not proletarian revolutionaries. Which makes sense since the worker/peasant revolution failed in China, their politics are more Dengist than Maoist, the party even rejects the concept of class antagonism! I don’t see how they can even be considered Marxist.

There are a few key errors here.

1. The state as a state that cannot but whither away already exists, it cannot complete that process without the death of imperialism and the global transition to communism.

2. China is very internationalist, just not millitantly so. No country has done more to undermine the economic basis of imperialism in the 21st century than China.

3. The revolution did not fail.

4. China upholds Mao and Deng, but in fact sees Xi Jinping Thought as the same category as Mao Zedong Thought while keeping Deng Xiapoing Theory at the level of theory, not thought. It's Xi Jinping Thought that is seen as the genuine advancement.

5. The CPC does not reject class struggle. The CPC rejects the Gang of Four's vulgarization of class struggle over all else.

The fact that there are five critical errors in this paragraph alone speaks volumes.

The bureaucratic class uses the state apparatus to sustain the bourgeois class, while the toiling classes are fundamentally proletarian, that is, despite social democratic concessions they still have nothing to sell the capitalists but their labor. People are heavily exploited in “special economic zones”. Communal land is becoming more privatized, not less. The rural agrarian population is insular and petty bourgeois, the urban middle classes are becoming less political but more aspirational and individualistic. Housing, while abundant, is still commodified.

There is no "bureaucratic class." Administration is fully in line with proletarian responsibilities. The rest of your comment is indicative of early socialism, which is a long and drawn out process, not of capitalism.

The party uses the state to maintain capitalist relations. State capitalist. The only thing confusing is that in our world there is always a state protecting the bourgeois class. So it’s really just capitalism, like social democracy. So maybe “party capitalist” is more accurate. I’m not too invested about slandering China, but your criticism is the same disingenuous attitude that insists “authoritarian” is meaningless. The term exists, people use it in political discourse, not engaging with it, and pretending it doesn’t exist is intentionally obtuse. No Marxist should concern themselves with epistemological word games.

The party, to the contrary, uses the state to socialize the economy and maintain dominance over the capitalists that do exist. Public ownership is the principle aspect of the economy, and the state is run by the proletariat. For someone that seems to not be too invested in slandering China, you've repeated common misinformation about it without backing yourself up, and then wound yourself up in the epistemological word games you accuse others of.

“Authoritarian” can be concretely defined and understood. Overlooking the self criticism of, “it is very convenient that I refuse to believe in the existence of a verifiable phenomenon that is used to criticize me,” trying to prove the phenomenon is fake rather than engaging with it as criticism, betrays the socialist principle of ruthless criticism, as well as Marxist materialism. No one believes you except those in your own camp. It’s sectarian idealism.

"Authoritarianism" is simply the use of state power, and the state must be understood by its class character. The reason Marxists ridicule those accusing socialist states of "authoritarianism" is because this is juxtaposed not by a lack of authority, but by *capitalist authoritarianism." The degree of state power employed is not a decision of individuals, but of the state reacting to material conditions it finds itself in. Modern Germany has just as much potential to end up like Nazi Germany, but because they aren't in the same degree of crisis they don't need to employ as drastic measures to solidify bourgeois rule.

Overall, you've played more word games than anyone else here, repeated misinformation from anti-communists and cold warriors, then tried to shut down the points of others without meaningfully backing up your own.

Your wall of text is up its own asshole. You’re playing word games while chastising me for playing word games.

I did. The fact that private capital exists in China does not make it capitalist. Capitalism, as a mode of production, refers to a broad system, not private ownership in general. Public ownership is the principle aspect of the economy, you cannot slice out private ownership as a static, disconnected thing and call it capitalism, it must be judged within the context of its existence. It isn't just that the state owns a significant amount, but that the state owns the commanding heights of industry, the large firms and key industries, finance sector, and more, with the working class in control of said state.

State capitalism refers to capitalist states, run by capitalists with private ownership as the principle aspect, but with large degrees of state control. Nazi Germany is another good example of state capitalism, a strong bourgeois state is not the same as a socialist market economy.

Marx railed against equalitarians. Equality isn't the goal, but reducing disparity while focusing on improving the lives of the working classes. If that means billionaires existing as a tactical contradiction, then this isn't a mark against socialism, but instead a contradiction that requires solving down the line. As China remains integrated into the world market, billionaires do exist, but they hold no political power.