Demoralizing, dizzying, frightening -- sure. Immiserating -- not so. Consumption levels in China are way, way up, life-spans and health indicators are up.
> * The instabilities created by China becoming an
> exporter whose product and service offerings overlap
> with other Asian economies that are also
> export-dependent
Not a problem. China is drawing in exports from Thailand, Korea and Vietnam.
> How should progressives of all types – but folks with
> socialist and communist aspirations in particular –
> interpret these events, which are often applauded as
> signs of progress?
Dialectically, of course -- lots of new wealth is being created. But this is creating new problems -- who gets the wealth, under what conditions, who pays the ecological and social price tag, etc.
I'm not sure it makes sense to talk about a "capitalist restoration" in China. China was never socialist to begin with, it was a brutally impoverished peasant/feudal society, ravaged by warlords and Japanese fascism, which had to industrialize in record time under the threat of US invasion. Today, China is rapidly integrating into East Asia's brand of multinational capitalism, and that requires a different analysis and critique.
-- DRR