Comments by "Al Loomis" (@alloomis1635) on "Modern China | Prof. Rana Mitter | Talks at Google" video.

  1. 'the great leap forward' was unsuccessful, and famine did result, but i forgive mao for this policy. it was inspired by the realization that china's enemies could not be deterred by the massive red army. the usa was publicly threatening nuclear bombing of chinese cities., a war of extermination, not occupation. the only effective counter-measure was getting a chinese bomb, and effective delivery system. so he threw what he had, peasant labor, into a modernization program. the situation was like modern times, with iran and north korea seeing their only defense from american aggression in getting nuclear capability.
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  2. better by far than creating empires by invasion, coups and assassination. chinese society has managed to make politics a rewarding profession for smart people, while 'representative democracy' commonly falls into the hands of the toxic rich.
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  3. many brits think they have democracy. i can not imagine why.
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  4. google employees are commonly computer freaks with little knowledge out side their field. adding a bit of world view to their employees is a good investment by gg.
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  5. an outsider's view is often valuable. if you listen to insiders you get what they want you to believe, certainly, and frequently what they believe and are deeply mistaken about.
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