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New Media Academy Life・2 minutes read

Mao Zedong's ambitious plans to increase China's productivity through infrastructure projects led to devastating consequences, including the execution of landlords, widespread famine, and the Cultural Revolution. The trauma and impact of these events continue to affect Chinese society, with echoes seen in modern policies such as the Social Credit System and concerns over potential conflict under Xi Jinping's leadership.

Insights

  • Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward, aiming to boost China's productivity, led to one of history's largest famines, causing 55 million deaths due to unrealistic goals, harsh policies, and ecological disasters.
  • The Cultural Revolution under Mao, marked by violence and chaos, saw the rise of the Red Guards, leading to the destruction of historical sites, suicides, and a lost generation, with the trauma persisting in Chinese society and influencing contemporary policies like the Social Credit System and AI governance under Xi Jinping.

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  • What was Mao Zedong's goal during the Great Leap Forward?

    Mao aimed to increase China's productivity significantly.

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Summary

00:00

Mao's Ambitious Plans: Rise and Fall

  • Mao Zedong, the Chinese Communist leader, was inspired by Stalin's five-year plan and aimed to increase China's productivity by 128% through 595 infrastructure projects.
  • Mao's plan included producing 5 million tons of steel, an agrarian reform to benefit 300 million farmers, and encouraging people to eat five meals a day to avoid leftovers.
  • The agrarian reform led to the execution of over a million landlords to prevent the emergence of a land-owning class that could threaten Mao's rule.
  • Mao implemented Collectives, where farmers grouped their lands into cooperatives supervised by the Communist party, following Stalin's ideology.
  • Khrushchev's De-Stalinization criticized the agrarian cooperatives, leading Mao to fear his own erasure and decide to prepare China to become a superpower.
  • Mao initiated the Hundred Flowers Campaign in 1956, allowing public criticism of the Communist Party, only to later purge over a million dissenters in re-education camps.
  • Mao's goal was to solidify his rule and prevent any opposition, aiming to lead world communism and surpass the UK's steel production.
  • The "Great Leap Forward" was Mao's ambitious plan to increase production, turning China into an army focused on wheat and steel production.
  • Communes were established, where farmers worked under strict supervision and incentive programs, aiming to boost productivity through a points-based system.
  • Mao's unrealistic goals and harsh policies during the Great Leap Forward led to economic disaster and widespread suffering among the Chinese population.

12:34

"China's Great Leap Forward: Environmental Devastation, Famine"

  • Abo Hmeed received 250g of food daily, which was considered minimal due to the "work or starve" policy.
  • Pregnant women who didn't work had their food supplies cut off, leading to starvation.
  • Working from sunrise to sunset earned individuals 250g of food, equivalent to 4 cucumbers or a few apples.
  • The Chinese Communist Party enforced planting wheat and incorrect irrigation methods, causing land infertility.
  • The Four Pests Campaign targeted rats, birds, mosquitoes, and flies to boost agricultural production.
  • Farmers were forced to hunt birds, leading to ecological imbalances and locust invasions due to the absence of natural predators.
  • China's deforestation for fuel exacerbated the environmental crisis caused by the Four Pests Campaign.
  • The Communist Party aimed to surpass the UK in steel production, enlisting 100 million farmers to work in steel factories.
  • Farmers with no industrial experience were tasked with producing steel, leading to the creation of poor-quality steel.
  • The Great Leap Forward resulted in one of the largest famines in history, with 55 million deaths, prompting a leadership change in China.

24:26

Mao's Cultural Revolution: Trauma and Suppression

  • Mao faced condemnation at a conference for his failed Great Leap Forward, leading to the largest famine in history, killing 55 million people.
  • Mao received a last card from Stalin, learning how Stalin restored power after a famine by executing a million cadres during the Great Terror.
  • To regain power and control history, Mao initiated the Cultural Revolution, pinning the label of "bourgeois" on party members and intellectuals who condemned him.
  • Mao directed the revolution towards young students, forming the Red Guards who saw Mao's sayings in the Red Book as holy, burning all other books.
  • The Cultural Revolution led to violence and chaos, with students attacking teachers and professors, resulting in numerous suicides and destruction of historical sites.
  • Mao used the Red Guards to eliminate his enemies, directing their anger towards those he wanted to get rid of, restoring his cult personality.
  • Mao later sent 20 million young people to the countryside to prepare a new generation of leaders, marking the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976.
  • The psychological impact of the revolution was severe, with an entire generation losing their innocence and being exiled, termed the "Lost Generation."
  • The Chinese government continues to suppress any mention of Mao's crimes, with strict rules against discussing the Cultural Revolution or Mao's history.
  • The trauma of the Cultural Revolution persists in Chinese society, with echoes seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, where citizens were tasked with enforcing social distancing measures, reminiscent of the past control and punishment dynamics.

36:16

China's Social Credit System and AI Governance

  • In 2014, the Social Credit System was introduced in China, evaluating citizens based on communal services and behavior, monitored through AI technology, with points assigned accordingly.
  • Xi Jinping's leadership style, akin to Mao's, utilizes AI for governance, with China leading in AI research and patents, possessing surveillance capabilities surpassing Mao's era.
  • Concerns arise globally over potential conflict initiated by Xi Jinping, particularly regarding Taiwan, with reflections on China's historical traumas and the necessity to confront and learn from them to move forward.
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