I wrote my first comment out of frustration after writing out a whole comment and then deleting it because it was more effort than it was worth. And then I ended up needing to write basically the comment out again in the reply.

And it's not consumerism in China that's the problem. It's consumerism in America that's the problem, obviously, because China and particularly Shein is manufacturing for export. China is serving a market need, and I think they are uniquely poised to exploit their position to serve this need in a way nobody else is. The West provides the incentive, China capitalizes on it. But quite frankly at this point it would be incredibly tiring to write out a nuanced take with enough caveats, counter criticism of the west, and sugarcoating to appease the dogmatists who take any criticism of China as evidence of liberalism.

I'm going to touch grass and I think so should y'all, because you can't be nuanced without writing a whole dissertation here ig.

I don't see how I'm not

That was not aimed at you directly

And I know what the reply is going to be, "build a successful revolution, then you can discuss what to do."

Overthrow the government and then figure out what you want to do seems like putting the cart before the horse.

Like, don't get me wrong, the imperialist machine is absolutely trying to tear down China through criticism among other things, but are we as Communists not allowed to discuss what we could do differently, not for the purposes of improving China, but for the purposes of honing our own goals and methods? Or is learning from the mistakes of others only allowed after Gorbachev dissolves them?

Dishonest and unhelpful comparison

Even if you also criticize the terrible crimes of the West much more harshly, China is exempt from even the lightest criticism 👍

ngl expected to click on this and have it say like touch grass or something lmao

Likewise, comrade

Fair point, but the comment does still feel dismissive of environmental concerns re: Shein and the like. The reason I responded is it feels like an overcorrection. Yes the imperialists are trying to malign China, but to completely cast aside any criticism that imperialists make and then imply that even leftist making that criticism have been duped feels like an overcorrection. Like, on a personal level, I feel the same way about Shein as I do Amazon, but ofc I recognize two facts:

1. Whoever reads my comment in a vacuum doesn't know my feelings about non-Chinese companies doing the same nor how much it occupies my personal attention
2. I am an individual participating in a system, and so I must be aware of how, even if my criticisms of Chinese companies are balanced by equal criticisms of American companies elsewhere, there is still an imbalance of focus caused by the capitalist class and its media apparatus.

The Western brain cannot comprehend all of humanity benefiting from automation instead of just the bourgeoisie

Like yes, I recognize that the imperialists want to zero in both on untrue criticisms and on criticisms of China that also apply to America and American companies.

But that does not mean criticisms that apply to American companies are to be celebrated or even ignored when they apply to Chinese companies, we just have to be balanced in our attention. And me personally, I hate using Amazon, I hate Amazon as a business, I hate how their return policy contributes to consumerism and also waste.

I hate consumerism. Because I'm a fucking Communist. How's that for balance