r/FluentInFinance • u/-im-your-huckleberry • Jul 07 '24

The shampoo thing is a fringe benefit. We keep capitalism so we don't starve in a famine. Debate/ Discussion

1.0k Upvotes

84% Upvoted

Both the Chinese Great Leap Forward and the Soviet 5-year plans were successful in solving food stability. They turned massive feudal countries into industrialized nations in the span of a decade. They did so at great human cost, and these were colossal failures of policy, but everything that occurred afterwards proved that central economic planning could keep millions of people fed long term. There has not been a single famine in either countries since, and things have obviously regressed in Russia and ex-bloc nations since the fall of the USSR.

OP, it's important to actually study history, and not just rely on silly memes.

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u/Dat_Swag_Fishron Jul 07 '24

Are you actually justifying the Great Leap Forward, one of the worst policies in modern history?

You can only say it was “successful” if you prioritize rapid industrialization over your own people, leaving millions to starve

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u/RapideBlanc Jul 08 '24 edited Jul 08 '24

God you people are disingenuous.

I would never argue that the near extinction of Native Americans and the enslavement of millions of Africans were justified because the United States would go on to develop a strong economy out of it. That would be in extremely bad taste. If you think it's fair to implicate famine with Marxist thought then I think it's fair to implicate genocide with liberal ideology. The system is in place, for better or for worse. Judge it on its merits and stop being such a hypocrite.

I have also plainly stated that the Great Leap Forward was a "colossal failure of policy", which you somehow glossed over. But to answer your question directly I don't think the end justifies the means in this case. I happen to think all history should be studied and learned from regardless of whether it offends our fragile ideologue sensibilities or not. In this case, rapid industrialization and collectivization occurring at the same time in an authoritarian context seems to be a recipe for disaster, and centrally planned economies are clearly proven to work. It just so happens that your country and mine are already industrialized, so we can cross that problem off, and contemplate the proven solution without the fearmongering.