This is an interesting graphic showing how the world has changed economically over the last 30 years.
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| Credit: https://x.com/gummibear737/status/2088723403452645458 |
Two big takeaways stand out at the top of the graphic.
Despite many who want to diminish the United States, the resilience of its economy is unmatched.
The United States actually is responsible for a larger share of global GDP today than 30 years ago.
The other big takeaway is the rise of China over this period.
China has grown from 2.4% of global GDP to 16.5%.
It is also interesting to note that the growth of global GDP to China has not been taken at the expense of the United States.
Japan and Europe have paid that price.
Japan's share of global GDP dropped from 17.7% to 3.5%.
The share of global GDP of Germany, France, UK and Italy went from 21.5% to 13.1%.
Some like to point to China's increased wealth and argue that it proves that socialism/communism can work to benefit society.
However, all of China's economic growth has been achieved after it embraced capitalist economic reforms.
The Chinese Communists were forced to put their ideology aside and accept reality.
For those who are confused about the definition of socialism.
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| Source: Google AI |
Beginning in the 1970's China got rid of the collectivist farms in favor of each farming family getting its own plot of land.
In 1978 it was illegal to have a private business in China.
Private ownership was permitted beginning in 1979.
There are now over 50 million private businesses in China.
The country was opened to foreign investment as part of the reforms and big international companies started moving in.
Special economic zones were established where market rules applied.
One zone was opened in Shenzhen in 1980 when it was small fishing village just north of Hong Kong.
It now has over 13 million inhabitants and is a technology and logistics hub for China.
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China was living under a socialist/communist government model from 1949 without any real improvement to its society.
In 1980, 97% of the Chinese population still lived in extreme poverty 30 years after the communists took over.
All it took to improve life for the Chinese people was to accept reality and embrace capitalism beginning in the late 1970's
Yes. some in China got rich but the entire society was lifted up in the process beyond anything that socialism could provide.
How is it then that there are those who do not know history and somehow believe that the people of the United States would be better off with a socialist system?
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| Source: https://nypost.com/2026/08/16/us-news/dems-now-favor-socialism-over-capitalism-by-this-overwhelming-amount-new-poll/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_source=twitter |
Democrats favor Socialism over Capitalism by 58%-32%.
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| Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/democrats-socialism-economy-political-parties-opinion-poll/ |
Compare those numbers to those of Republican voters.
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| Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/democrats-socialism-economy-political-parties-opinion-poll/ |
You have to wonder whether those who have an idealized view of Socialism compared to Capitalism have any understanding of history, how incentives drive human behavior, or the reality of what Socialism/Communism did to countries such as China, Cuba, North Korea and Venezuela?
Compare Taiwan to China.
Compare South Korea to North Korea,
Compare Venezuela before Chavez and Maduro took over and what happened after.
Of course, most already know about Cuba before and after Fidel Castro took over.
The Cuban people who migrated to the United States have prospered while those who had to live under the socialist system had to survive in an impoverished nation.
We could also go back and compare the divergent paths of West Germany and East Germany after World War II.
The West and East both had GDP per capita numbers that were nearly identical in 1949. By 1990 (at the time of reunification), the capitalist West had GDP per capita that was almost double that of the East.
The history and the reality of socialist systems have proven time and time again that they are inferior in improving society wherever you look.
Despite this, there are still millions who don't seem to be able to see it and embrace ideology over reality.
However, in the end, reality always trumps ideology.
Let's not forget, however, that the Chinese government are still a bunch of horrible Communists. They use capitalism because they ran out of other people's monies, a long, long time ago, and were smart enough to wake up and figure out that capitalism was necessary before they all starved to death. Even now, I don't think the lifestyle of most Chinese people is all that great.
ReplyDeleteCorrect on all accounts. However, when I was in Shanghai a few years ago there were more than a few Chinese people who were doing very well. However, the contrast was stark. Old women sweeping the sidewalks with old brooms and Range Rovers driving by on the street.
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