Communistic Capitalism

Naomi Klein, HuffPo

 
So far, the Olympics have been an open invitation to China-bash, a
bottomless excuse for Western journalists to go after the Commies on everything
from internet censorship to Darfur. Through
all the nasty news stories, however, the Chinese government has seemed
amazingly unperturbed. That's because it is betting on this: when the opening
ceremonies begin friday, you will instantly forget all that unpleasantness as
your brain is zapped by the cultural/athletic/political extravaganza that is
the Beijing Olympics.
Like it or not, you are about to be awed by China's sheer awesomeness.
The games have been billed as China's "coming out
party" to the world. They are far more significant than that. These
Olympics are the coming out party for a disturbingly efficient way of
organizing society, one that China
has perfected over the past three decades, and is finally ready to show off. It
is a potent hybrid of the most powerful political tools of authoritarianism
communism -- central planning, merciless repression, constant surveillance --
harnessed to advance the goals of global capitalism. Some call it
"authoritarian capitalism," others "market Stalinism,"
personally I prefer "McCommunism."

Note: The reader might note the similarities between
‘authoritarian capitalism’ and Corporate America. Why are the Americans
wallowing in disaster? They have world class expertise in merciless repression
and in constant surveillance. Where do they fall down? They have little or no
central planning. The corporations do not plan on a comprehensive scale. They
are industry specific.