I thought we were talking about socialist revolution, these are examples of military aid for independence and liberation of African countries. China is still training African soldiers today, are we seeing socialist revolutions anywhere?

Do you have any sources for this?

Can you explain where and when did China export armed revolution? If you are referring to Vietnam and DPRK, those were military aid to existing socialist states and not exporting armed revolution.

I don’t think China’s involvement in BRICS is a big role currently, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is probably China’s biggest international contribution in terms of common development for proletariats across the world.

Depends on what you mean by exporting revolution. I think the “exporter” should not be hierarchically above the local communist party, something like Comintern’s leadership relation with respect to the CPC in the early years should be avoided as it will lead to many problems, like misunderstanding the local conditions. The CPC maintains relations with various parties (both communist, like Cuba’s PCC and Russia’s CPRF, and non-communist like Russia’s United Russia party) on equal terms, that’s probably good enough until international conditions change.

I occasionally see comrades debate about whether China should support political movements/revolutions in other countries, the answer is an obvious NO when you look at history. The CPC has had its own share of lessons from left-deviationists that follow the Comintern and Stalin. Mao Zedong wasn’t always the revered leader as his emphasis was on peasants in rural areas, unlike the “classical” thought of cities and working class.

Even if you disregard history, foreigners are not as informed about local conditions as locals, so it would be arrogant for China to attempt to guide or lead the political struggles in another country. It’s even more inadvisable when you consider the leftist infighting that exists in various western countries.

I wrote a joke answer because such comparisons are stupid. So what if China’s model is better than USSR’s, can it be copy-pasted onto the currently non-existent USSR? If USSR used China’s current model back then, would the China in that version of history have developed as quickly as it did? How would such a model even look like when used by the USSR, such a question can only be answered by first analyzing the conditions of China and the USSR. Countries have relations with each other and different models will result in different relations.

Of course we can attempt to compare models/policies/theories using certain outcomes like per capita GDP/life expectancy/etc., but that doesn’t automatically turn the winning model into a blueprint that everyone can use. This is why we emphasize that Marxism must be adapted to every nation’s specific conditions, the process that links theory to praxis cannot be copied wholesale.

1. China good, USSR bad.
2. China bad, USSR badder.
3. USSR good, China gooder.

I have covered all possible comparisons from across all ideologies, pick your answer.

The translation is wonky, but basically the five books recommended by Mao Zedong cover Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin.

• Marx/Engels, Communist Manifesto
• Engels, Socialism: Utopian and Scientific
• Lenin, Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution
• Lenin, “Left-Wing” Communism: an Infantile Disorder
• Stalin, History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks) Short Course

He mentioned them as part of a speech at the 7th CPC National Congress on May 31, 1945: (I omitted a large section in the middle as translating the colloquial phrases is hard)

(DeepL translate, corrections in brackets) (12) The question of theoretical work

We have to absorb all the experiences of foreign parties and the Comintern, a question that was discussed last time. At least five books should be read in order to strengthen our theoretical studies, and I recommend them to you: The Communist Manifesto, [Socialism: Utopian and Scientific], [Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution], [“Left-Wing” Communism: an Infantile Disorder], and [History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks) Short Course], where the books of [Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin] [are all included]. If 5,000 to 10,000 people have read them and have a general understanding of them, that would be good and useful. […] We should also pay close attention to the manifestos and programs of foreign parties published in the newspapers and see what they do. In the past the Comintern was of great help to the Chinese proletariat and the Chinese people, helping the Chinese proletariat to create the [Communist Party of China], and it had a great deal of merit, as was stated in our party decision when the Comintern was dissolved.

Where did dogmatism come from? Did it come from [Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin]? No. They often remind us in their writings that their doctrine is a guide to action, a weapon, not a dogma. What they say is not a dogma, but we read it and it becomes a dogma, and this is because we have not read it through and we do not know how to read it, so can we blame them? Many people do not attach importance to theoretical work, as if this work does not matter. It is not right to waver in one’s view of theoretical work. We should look up to those who are engaged in translation work and those who write theoretical articles, and we should talk to them more often. We can’t read foreign- books without those who engage in translation work, and they are very meritorious in translating foreign books, even if they have translated only one book in their whole life. It is not good that others do not attach importance to the idea of this work; it is equally not good that the comrades who do this work have themselves wavered in their understanding of it. Some people have more than once asked for a change of profession, saying that [the work is unpopular] and asked for other work. Don’t belittle the comrades who are engaged in translation. If we don’t engage in a little bit of foreign stuff, how can China know what Marxism-Leninism is? In Chinese history, there was also translation work. The Tang Monk was a great translator, and he set up a translation center to translate Buddhist scriptures when he came back from the scriptures. The first page of the first volume of the Complete Works of Lu Xun, there is a preface written by Cai Yuanpei[37], in which a few sentences are well written. He said that Lu Xun was both an expositor and a very modest man, translating the works of many foreign literary figures; the translations accounted for half of his complete works. Therefore, it is not right to belittle this work or to waver in it.

I put the whole speech through DeepL and found the second part of the speech to be the interesting part:

Well, I’d like to tell you this: my ministers have quoted all the figures they could quote, so I’m not going to tell you. I’m just going to give you one thing. Just one thing for you. This country has spent four years. In fact, since the coup against President Dilma, this country has been like an old truck going downhill without control. This country stopped making social policy. How many houses were built after we left government? How many houses for the poor? Today we build houses for the poorest people and people on Bolsa Família and BPC don’t pay for the house, because the state has the right to guarantee people the right to housing. It’s in the Federal Constitution of this country. If we want to make a revolution in this country, Pacheco, we don’t have to read a book by Marx. We don’t have to be Leninists. We don’t have to be Mao Zedong. We don’t have to be Fidel. Read the Brazilian Constitution and let’s regulate all the rights of the Brazilian people that are there. And that’s what we’re doing.

I’ve found hundreds and hundreds of paralyzed hospitals in this country. Hundreds and hundreds of paralyzed UPAs. Almost 6,000 kindergartens paralyzed in this country. I found 87,000 Minha Casa, Minha Vida houses abandoned. The other day I went to Ceará to inaugurate a house that should have been inaugurated in 2018. Because this plague of locusts that has swept through this country in recent times has only come to destroy, not to build anything.

When we came into government, they sent away the More Doctors that Dilma had brought in. They sent them away. Do you know how many doctors there were when we arrived in this country? Anyone who works in healthcare here should know. There were only 12,500 doctors. Today we have 26,000 doctors covering the health of the poor people of this country, in cities that often can’t even afford a doctor, because doctors are expensive. So I said to you: I want to be president again. I had already been president. I had already been, you know, it was like, but I wanted to come back to teach a lesson to the people who don’t like us.

This country has always been governed by only 35% of the population. It never reached 40%. It has always been governed. The poor were only seen at election time, because at election time, every candidate speaks ill of bankers and embraces the poor. When the elections are over, to hell with the poor and they go and look after the bankers they despised during the elections. And I wanted to prove that politics can be different. I, for example, think that bankers have to make money, because if they don’t, the government is obliged to do what Fernando Henrique Cardoso did with PROER. Twenty-something billion to save the banks. I want businesspeople to earn money, because if businesspeople earn money, they’ll invest, they’ll hire workers, they’ll pay wages, wages will turn into consumption, consumption will go to commerce, commerce will grow, stores will buy more things, industry will produce and people will eat more. That’s the country I want to build. And it can be built.

Now, as this country was governed with only 35% of the population in mind, we decided to include the people in this country. In other words, the people have to be taken into account, because the people who are poorer are not poorer because they want to be poor. Nobody chooses to be poor. I choose to be a doctor, I choose to be an engineer, I choose to be a lawyer, I choose to be a teacher. The only thing we don’t do is “I want to be poor, I want to eat badly, I want to live badly, I want to dress badly”. There’s no such thing. We want to eat well, we want to dress well, we want to live well. We want to have the latest television, we want to have good cell phones, we want to go on vacation, we want to go to the beach, we want to eat meat like people who eat meat. Why do we have to be trampled on all our lives?

Then someone asks me, a journalist: "But, Lula, don’t you think they’re spending too much? The minimum wage has already been increased twice. Good heavens, the minimum is the minimum. The name says it all. There’s nothing lower than the minimum. Now, how can I discuss, make a fiscal adjustment, over the minimum of the minimum. What I wanted to do was make a fiscal adjustment to the profitability of this country’s bankers, who make money speculating on the stock exchange, speculating, you know, every day. I’m not going to touch the humblest people. The humblest people, the state has to take care of them, because a middle-class citizen doesn’t need the state. The guy who has a house, the guy who has a car, the guy who is well married, the guy who has a family, his children studying at a good school, he doesn’t need the government. The government needs to look at those who need it, like a mother. I always say this: governing is about putting a mother’s heart in our heads so that we learn to take care of everyone, on equal terms, and to take more care of the most fragile, the most dependent. This is the country we’re going to build, people. This is the country I’m proving it’s possible to build.

I’d like to say to the deputies and senators. I wanted to say something to you. I’d like to say to the vice-governor, to my companion who is perhaps the oldest person here, apart from me. I want to say the following: I doubt, and the press is here, there must be a lot of intellectuals here, I doubt that there was a day in the state of Minas Gerais that a President of the Republic came to announce the number of things that I came to announce here. I doubt it. I doubt it.

And we’re going to build the BR-381, because we’ve already tried to hold an auction once, and the auction was empty. There’s a stretch near Governador Valadares that’s very complicated. So I said to my minister: “Minister, here’s the deal: whatever the businessman doesn’t want to do, which is to gnaw on the bone, the government will gnaw on the bone and we’ll make this road”. That’s what’s going to happen in Minas Gerais.

And so I forgot to tell you, but there’s going to be an institute in Barreiro. There’s going to be an institute. All that’s left is for the mayor to sign the document. I hope that Camilo and the mayor agree to sign it, because what I want is to educate these people, because people who are well educated, people who have a profession, go ahead and nobody needs the state. And that’s what I’m going to build. And I’ll say it again, I said it here: I want to be president again to prove that we can take care of poor people. And I want you to know: I’m going to take care of you the way I take care of my son, the way I take care of my granddaughter, the way I take care of the things I love, because I’m only where I am, I’m only what I am, an illiterate northeasterner who’s only trained as a lathe operator, to become president of the Republic. There are two things: the work of God and the work of the courage of those of you who had the pleasure of electing me.

Video subtitles:

If you want to make a revolution in this country, Pacheco, we don’t have to read any book by Marx, we don’t have to be a Leninist, we don’t have to be a Mao Zedongist, we don’t have to be Fidel. Read the Brazilian constitution and we will regulate all the rights of the Brazilian people.

For reference: Brazil’s constitution

Did some searching and found the full speech: https://www.gov.br/planalto/pt-br/acompanhe-o-planalto/discursos-e-pronunciamentos/2024/pronunciamento-do-presidente-lula-durante-anuncio-de-investimento-do-governo-federal-para-minas-gerais

Here’s the entire paragraph that includes the part shown in the video at the end:

Bem, eu queria dizer para vocês o seguinte: os meus ministros citaram todos os números que poderiam citar, então não vou dizer, não. Vou apenas dar uma coisa para vocês. Apenas uma coisa para vocês. Esse país passou quatro anos. Na verdade, desde que deram o golpe na presidenta Dilma, esse país parecia um caminhão velho descendo ladeira abaixo, sem controle. Esse país deixou de fazer política social. Quantas casas foram feitas depois que nós saímos do governo? Quantas casas para o pobre? Hoje a gente faz casa para as pessoas mais pobres e as pessoas do Bolsa Família e o BPC não paga a casa, porque o Estado tem o direito de garantir o direito de moradia para as pessoas. Está na Constituição Federal desse país. Se a gente quiser fazer uma revolução nesse país, Pacheco, a gente não tem que ler um livro de Marx. A gente não tem que leninista. A gente não tem que ser Mao Tsé-Tung. A gente não tem que ser Fidel. Leia a Constituição Brasileira e vamos regulamentar todos os direitos do povo brasileiro que está lá. E é isso que nós estamos fazendo.

(DeepL translate) Well, I’d like to tell you this: my ministers have quoted all the figures they could quote, so I’m not going to say it. I’m just going to just give you one thing. Just one thing for you. This country has spent four years. In fact, since the coup against President Dilma, this country has been like an old truck going downhill, with no control. control. This country has stopped making social policy. How many houses were after we left government? How many houses for the poor? Today we build houses for the poorest people and the people on the Bolsa Bolsa Família and BPC don’t pay for the house, because the state has the right to to guarantee people the right to housing. It’s in the Constitution of this country. If we want to make a revolution in this country, Pacheco, we don’t have to read a book by Marx. We don’t have to Leninist. We don’t have to be Mao Zedong. We don’t have to be Fidel. Read the Brazilian Constitution and let’s regulate all the rights of the Brazilian people that are there. And that’s what we’re doing.

What does it mean to be a Marxist-Leninist? Answer this question first.

The population of China in 1949 was around 542 million, there were about 4.5 million CPC members at the time, around 0.83% of the population. Is every CPC member a Marxist-Leninist? How many people were MLs but not CPC members? Are you automatically ML if you support the CPC’s policies? Are there MLs who aren’t CPC members and don’t believe in Marxism?

The population of China as of 2023 is about 1.41 billion, there are 99.185 million CPC members, around 7% of the population. The same questions asked above can be asked here. How many MLs are there in China?

Here’s a long Chinese article about what it means to be a Marxist according to Mao Zedong: http://dangshi.people.com.cn/n/2013/1225/c85037-23943401.html

The revolution does not occur in a vacuum. How will you acquire weapons, how will you occupy an area, how will you feed yourself, where will you live, how will you communicate with others, what happens if core members get caught, how will you sniff out reactionaries, how will you explain your goals to the people, the list of questions to answer goes on.

What it means for Marxists to organize is to create a group of revolutionaries that can answer these questions. Strikes are just one way to make your voice heard, nothing is guaranteed.

You mean as articles to describe part of the situation in China for the transgender community? The Baike articles are slightly outdated as the SRS page does not include the 2022 update I mentioned, but they were useful as leads to search on.

Yeah, I think there would be a very huge loophole in marriage laws if someone is able to change their legal sex while being married.

The issue here is not that of a single communist being a landlord, but that of the people not all becoming landlords. At the socialist stage, all land belongs to the state and hence the people, thus everyone is a “landlord”.

Now back to the pre-revolution capitalist society, it is vital that communists control more land and resources, control more means of production, control more media outlets. If something doesn’t belong to a communist, it’s safe to say that it isn’t in the hands of the proletariat either.

Communists are not capitalist philanthropists, and should not be broke volunteers either. There exists a twisted mindset among some communists that they should be poor or own very little private property while helping the proletariat. Indeed, most of the land and means of production would be seized after the revolution, and many communists would gladly give up their private property at that point, but that doesn’t mean that you should have none before. Communists should control as much as they can before the revolution.

If you own more than one house, the extra house can be used for the socialist cause, that includes using it as a base of operations, as a home for people in need, or renting it out as a source of income. The question of being a communist landlord arises if you choose to rent your extra houses. (Selling the house is an option if the funds are then used to empower communists like developing the means of production, or if there is an urgent situation that calls for it.)

There are many scenarios to consider in the case of a communist landlord:

1. Cheap rent to those that “deserve” it.
2. Normal rent to anyone.
3. Expensive rent specifically for high-earning proletariat/petite-bourgeoisie/capitalist.

(I didn’t include free rent as that does not involve a source of income.)

In all three scenarios, a communist may indeed feel guilty of robbing or exploiting others, but be aware that we are considering the pre-revolution capitalist society. If you’re just going to pocket the money for yourself, then you wouldn’t be considered a communist in the first place. Organizing requires time and money/capital. Without Engel’s financial aid, Marx wouldn’t be able to continue his research. Without revolutionary base areas and the aid of peasants in the rural areas, and without the spirit of self-reliance, the Chinese Communists lead by Mao Zedong would not have succeeded in their revolution.

In conclusion, there’s only a problem with being a communist and a landlord if you’re living in a capitalist society and not going to use the rent money for the socialist cause.

The Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS) and Transgender Hormone Therapy (THT) articles on Baike wiki includes the current situation in China. From what I’ve read in these two articles, THT is less “standardized” than SRS, and the former cannot be used as a basis to change your legal sex.

What I mean by “standardized” is that the National Health Commission has published standards for SRS in 2017 and updated them in 2022, the same cannot be said for THT. Here are the criteria in 2017 and 2022 for someone who wants to undergo SRS: (translated with DeepL)

2017:

性别重置技术管理规范（2017年版） – 三、技术管理基本要求 – （四）手术前手术对象应当满足以下条件：

1. 对性别重置的要求至少持续5年以上，且无反复过程。
2. 术前接受心理、精神治疗1年以上且无效。
3. 未在婚姻状态。
4. 年龄大于20岁，具备完全民事行为能力。
5. 无手术禁忌证。

Translation: Code of Technical Management for Gender Reset (2017 Edition) - III. Basic Requirements for Technical Management - (d) Pre-surgical surgical candidates should fulfill the following conditions:

1. The [request/need] for gender reset has lasted for at least 5 years without a recurrent process.
2. Received psychological and psychiatric treatment for at least 1 year prior to the surgery and is ineffective.
3. Not in the state of marriage.
4. Be older than 20 years old and have full capacity for civil behavior.
5. No contraindications to surgery.

2022:

国家限制类技术临床应用管理规范（2022 年版） – G05 性别重置技术临床应用管理规范（2022 年版） – 三、技术管理基本要求 – （四）手术前手术对象应当满足以下条件：

1. 对性别重置的要求至少持续 5 年以上，且无反复过程。
2. 未在婚姻状态。
3. 年龄满 18 岁，具备完全民事行为能力，有能力完成性别重置序列治疗。
4. 无手术禁忌证。

Translation: National Code of Practice for Clinical Application of Restricted Technologies (2022 Edition) - G05 Code of Practice for Clinical Application of Gender Reset Technologies (2022 Edition) - III. Basic Requirements for Technical Management - (d) Pre-surgical surgical objects should fulfill the following conditions:

1. The request for gender reassignment has lasted for at least five years without a recurring process.
2. Not in the state of marriage.
3. Have reached the age of 18, have full capacity for civil behavior, and have the ability to complete the gender reassignment sequence treatment.
4. No contraindications to surgery.

Note that the updated criteria in 2022 removed the need for previous psychological and psychiatric treatment, and lowered the age requirement from 20 to 18.

There were two nationwide studies on the transgender community, conducted in 2017 and 2021, and problems with medical support in China was mentioned in the published findings.

Back to the question about access to estrogen, since there does not seem to be any national standard for THT, and 雌二醇 (Estradiol) is prescription medication, I would guess that it is indeed hard to get estrogen.

The user also mentioned that this is the only thing stopping them from moving to China, I think they’re underestimating the challenges in emigrating to any foreign country in general, especially a country with a strong national identity like China.

Laogai (劳改、劳动改造) is reform through labor for criminals. Laojiao (劳教、劳动教养) is reeducation through labor and is an administrative punishment separate from the judicial system, this was abolished in 2013.

China published a white paper titled “Criminal Reform in China” in 1992 that mentions reform-through-labour: http://lt.china-office.gov.cn/eng/zt/zfbps/200405/t20040530_2910767.htm

I think the specific term laogai isn’t used officially nowadays, but criminals are still expected to work. From the Criminal Law:

Article 46 An offender sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment or life imprisonment shall serve his sentence in prison or another execution premise; anyone who is able to work shall engage in work for the purpose of education and rehabilitation.

Press Statement of Vice Department Director of C.C., WPK Kim Yo Jong http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2024/202405/news29/20240529-13ee.html

Pyongyang, May 29 (KCNA) – Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, issued the following press statement under the title “The ROK is not entitled to criticize the freedom of expression of the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” on Wednesday:

As already warned by the DPRK vice minister of National Defence, a large amount of waste paper and rubbish are being scattered in the border and deep areas of the ROK from the night of May 28.

According to the ROK media, waste paper and rubbish were found not only in the border area with the DPRK but also in Seoul and other parts of the ROK.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the ROK puppet army said that the DPRK is scattering a large number of balloons over the ROK from last night. It urged the DPRK to stop such an act at once, claiming that it is a clear violation of international law, an act of seriously threatening the security of ROK people and an unethical and lowbrow act.

We have tried something they have always been doing, but I cannot understand why they are making a fuss as if they were hit by shower of bullets.

After all, they hoisted a white flag just one day after they themselves have been exposed to the despicable article-scattering which the DPRK has called into question and demanded a stop for years.

I doubt whether those in the ROK could only see the balloons flying southwards without catching sight of the balloons flying northwards.

Scum-like clans of the ROK are now blatantly claiming that their leaflet-scattering towards the DPRK is “freedom of expression” and that the corresponding act of the DPRK is an “obvious violation of international law”.

Are the “freedom of expression” and “international law” defined according to the direction in which balloons fly?

It is the height of impudence.

It is an opportunity to reconfirm how clumsy and brazen the ROK clans are.

The ROK clans must be subject to due pains as they tried to scatter leaflets, the political agitation rubbish slandering the idea and system of the DPRK regarded by all its people as sacred, and inject their mixed ideas raised at cesspools to the DPRK, and made a serious mockery of our people by scattering the cheap money and trifles which even mongrel dogs wouldn’t like.

If they experience how unpleasant the feeling of picking up filth is and how tired it is, they will know that it is not easy to dare talk about freedom of expression as to the scattering near border area.

Today, I will get the following stand into shape:

“As the leaflet-scattering to the ROK belongs to our people’s freedom of expression and provides the people in the ROK with the right to know, there is a limit for the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to immediately stop it. I courteously seek the ROK government’s consent. …”

The ROK clans cannot deprive the DPRK people of their righteous “freedom of expression”.

They should continue to pick up rubbish scattered by our people, regarding them really as “sincere presents” to the goblins of liberal democracy who are crying for the “guarantee for freedom of expression”.

We make it clear that we will respond to the ROK clans on case-to-case basis by scattering rubbish dozens of times more than those being scattered to us, in the future.

I’m not sure if you’re serious about the internet dying, it is basic infrastructure that improves efficiency for everyone from governments and corporations to individuals, it is not limited to being a source of information and entertainment, or a platform to express your opinion.

Calling it an infrastructure might not be accurate, the internet at its core is a global network of interconnected machines, the widespread connectivity is what makes it the internet, such a concept will still exist even if hardware advances.

Regarding purging online stuff, some people might find sentimental value in reviewing what they used to watch/listen to many years later. If you have issues with storage space, just store a text list of music you’ve heard, links to videos/articles you’ve watched/read, names of movies/shows/books/games you’ve watched/read/played, and add a date for additional context for future you. As for images, do not delete any of your personal photos but also keep them safe, memes can be deleted because popular ones are readily available and the rest don’t matter. Non-personal photos mostly don’t matter unless you have some use for them.

Digital “hoarding”, for lack of a better term, is not a new problem, but is much easier to achieve than physical hoarding due to cheaper storage in terms of physical space. People used to and still do collect physical tapes/disks/newspapers/posters/books.

Like I said, if you don’t want to have kids, that’s fine, some great communists like Zhou Enlai and his wife Deng Yingchao don’t have kids either. You can use any reason to justify it, no one is forcing you to have kids. However, the consequence of not having kids is very clear, there will be less potential comrades on your side.

Also, if you cannot bring up your own kids to be socialists, how confident are you in radicalizing strangers?