Thank you for the interesting answer. But seeing as you had to actually live there to get this impression, aren’t you being a bit strict on who’s (adult) left? Between western and Chinese propaganda, and a lack of [access to] Chinese critical sources, I think it’s incredibly hard to know what’s what without actually visiting. I mean, you can read a lot of Marx, Lenin and Mao, as well as contemporary critical theory, development studies, political economy and so on, without feeling like you’re able to get a clear view. I know I don’t.
I’m being purposefully hyperbolic to people that think investing in local communities is a genocide. Realistically yes, you can have leftist beliefs while believing anti left fascist propaganda. A whole lot of why the Weimar Republic fell was socialists believing fascists over their own comrades. But really if the only actual sources for a thing are people paid to explicitly be against communism, maybe don’t believe it. Read some Chinese history, look into the myths like mao ordering sparrows to be killed and read why that’s not a thing that happened and where those stories first started.
You will never have a clear view of anything regarding people, were too chaotic of a thing to objectively record, but you can get a much better idea if you understand the underlying motivations of those doing the recording. Chinese propaganda wants to entrench Chinese power for a China controlled by the people. American propaganda wants to entrench the ruling classes power for a China controlled by the American ruling class. Seems the biases are therefore a little uneven.
