State and Democracy (was Re: Who Killed Vincent Chin?)

[Daniel F. Vukovich]

At 01:52 AM 1/2/00 -0500Yoshie wrote:
>  With the CCP, China is going fully capitalist without plunging into 
> chaos;  Socialist
>opponents of the CCP do exist in China, but as a social force they do not
>appear significant (certainly not in a position to take power).

Well I might have misread your intent, and sorry if so.  It depends on what 
you mean and imply by saying "without the CCP's repressive management, 
China will probably be "Russia."     If one were to suggest that the strong 
and repressive state is what has "saved" the PRC from falling to pieces, 
this would be wrong.  It has been what has created the conditions of 
possibility of  becoming another "russia"  (with or without a CP in 
place).    It is also highly tendentious to suggest a relaxation of its 
grip would likely mean implosion or the end of its rule, this is the 
paranoid view reflected in much media coverage, and to be sure believed by 
some--hence the absurd crackdown on the absurd Falun Gong/Dafa.

I think we agree on the main issues-- the character of the current CCP, and 
the global if not imperialist pressures and limits placed upon the PRC (not 
least by themselves), and the likely (horrible) outcome were the CP/state 
to "wither" away _suddenly_.  But, moreover, we would *not* use this as an 
argument to legitimate or justify its _unnecessarily_ harsh rule right now, 
let alone to point to it as a necessary (albeit tragic, etc) path to 
development under those "special conditions." (Or do we disagree on 
this  -- I should hope not.)

   At any rate,  the CP and the state are not going away (unless the 
catastrophic version of crisis theory becomes accurate for once, thanks to 
WTO and further "opening up") so the questions to start with should be less 
dramatic and more fundamental: how might the system (within and beyond 
party and state) evolve, shift, get articulated on its own terms so to 
speak.  Or what is the nature and logic of the conjuncture, in the first 
place, and can we get at it beyond the usual platitudes and cliches about 
stalinism, markets and modernization, civil society, consumerism, 
communication "revolutions,"  etc.   I am in no position to pontificate 
about this. Ive only been studying the PRC for a couple-three years, and in 
a too unsystematic way, and these questions are not my focus anyway.

PS   Whom or what do you have in mind when you say socialist opponents of 
the CP.  I am not doubting so much as just querying.  MOre generally, what 
are you reading on the topic, beyond media I mean....Meisner, Huang?

Best,
Dan
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Daniel F. Vukovich
Dept. of English; The Unit for Criticism
University of Illinois
Urbana, IL 61801
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